


Midnight Purple

by MadManta



Series: Midnight Purple [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Aerith and Reno friendship, Aerith and Rude friendship, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, And Tseng is very soft for Rufus, Angst, Bottom Reno, Butt Plugs, Darkstar - Freeform, Dick Pics, Dildos, Elena Is Capable And Good, Emojis but only the kind with sunglasses, Fantasy Illness, Fighting AVALANCHE, First Aid, Fluff, Gun Violence, Heavy Drinking, I accidentally made it have more story and less porn, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Masturbation, Minor Character Death, Moral Ambiguity, Mutual Pining, Oblivious, Oral Sex, Phone Sex, Please Forgive me, Reno Gets Quiet, Reno Has Commitment Issues, Rude Gets Talkative, Rude loses his shit, Rude's Gloves, Rufus is a sick sad boy, Rufus is tougher than he looks, Sex Toys, Sexting, Shameless Smut, Some Story Mostly Porn, Teasing, They’re Turks god dammit, Top Rude, mild exhibitionism, playlist included
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:54:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadManta/pseuds/MadManta
Summary: After their night out,  Reno pretends it didn't happen. Rude is losing his mind over it, and accepts a mission to separate them temporarily.Alternate Title: "You're An Idiot, Also I'm An Idiot", the fic.
Relationships: Reno/Rude (Compilation of FFVII), Rude & Rufus Shinra, Tseng & Rufus Shinra
Series: Midnight Purple [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742764
Comments: 66
Kudos: 172





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is the title of the series, but the first in the series is The Witch Is My Wing Man. Read that one first. That'll help.
> 
> THE TIMELINE IS ALL FUCKED UP. I don’t know the first thing about before crisis and crisis core and blah blah blah. Just uh…erase it from your memory. Don’t think about how old whomstever is or what’s going on. everything is fine and nothing is wrong. I just wanted Elena and don't know a damn thing about the other games and Zack's interactions. I am but an old lady.  
> Also, this is a WIP and with it is a fun little Playlist on Spotify:  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oZ9seQRei4Cq1IULyyE8u?si=PmCIe2IxRt2K7tmQwWcB4A
> 
> Tags will be updated when I update per chapter.
> 
> I also apologize for the strange formatting of texting. A *lot* of this fic carries on in text because for some reason, my dumb ass had to write 3 chapters of setup for some sexting.
> 
> Find me on twitter @MantaWords  
> And pls, your comments sustain & inspire me.

Rude _may_ have fucked up.

The morning after the club, he woke up in an empty bed. It still smelled like Reno had spent time there, and it made him curl up a little in desire and heartfelt memory. But as he walked around the apartment, it was obvious Reno had gathered his clothes and hightailed it out of there. No note, no text message. So that was how it was going to be.

At work, he was early, and Reno was late. “Sorry boss,” he insisted, “had a late night—”

Tseng rolled his eyes and told him to get to work. Reno laughed, throwing himself at his desk, and specifically did not pester Rude.

So _that_ was how it was going to be.

Rude sank down a little further and focused on his morning terminal work.

As the days passed, Reno did not allude whatsoever to their night out. Rude was starting to regret not leaving a massive hickey so there could at least be some way to talk about it. Maybe he’d spooked Reno: he’d told him that night that he had intentions of fucking him _a lot_ , and maybe to Reno’s screwed up sense of self esteem that was clingy? Too much, too fast? So instead, Rude swept it under the rug, and they returned to business as usual.

The only difference now was just how separated they remained. They went on missions with great success, and Tseng was oblivious to anything having ever shaken up their dynamic, but Rude missed embarrassing high fives and Reno’s over the top flirting. It was notably absent.

After two weeks, Rude felt like the window of opportunity had closed. They hadn’t spent much time alone, and neither chose to talk about it, so it morphed into ‘that had been a mistake’ in his mind.

Tseng stepped up next to his desk one late morning, glancing between Rude’s desk and his phone. “Ancient check is today,” he said blandly. He failed to put any emphasis on it since it was an open secret that Tseng had a bit of a crush on her, which was frankly _weird_ in Rude’s opinion.

“Hey boss, can I take that one?” Reno said, shooting up from his desk. Rude blinked, glad for the sunglasses. He shrugged noncommittally.

“You _want_ to go check on her?” Tseng asked, suspicion coloring his tone. Reno simply laughed.

“Rude had his fun babysitting,” Reno chided. “I think I can be a bit more _effective_ in convincing her to come in.”

It didn’t feel right. Rude felt something bristling at the back of his neck. Why was he feeling overprotective of Aerith? Especially when it was just because of _Reno_? What was _Reno_ going to do?

“Rude?” Tseng asked.

“He’s right, it’s babysitting,” Rude said. “Give it to him.”

Tseng hummed and then agreed. “Alright. Standard check in. No surprises, Reno. Not with this girl.”

Reno gave a sloppy salute as he grabbed his mag rod and made his way to the door. “You got it, boss.”

Rude took an early lunch. When he returned, and Reno was not there, he marched up to Tseng’s desk.

“That opportunity you offered?” Rude asked. “I’ll take it.”

* * *

Reno _definitely_ fucked up.

When he’d woken up a hair’s breadth away from Rude in the wee hours of the morning, he’d panicked. He’d basically pushed pills on the man, took him home and fucked the soul out of him. With _Rude!_ This was going to change everything. Fuck up their dynamic. Turn them into a sappy sitcom and get them both fired.

He slinked out of bed, getting one last eyeful of Rude splayed out on his back, blanket hanging low around his hips, those metal barbells in his nipples on muscular pecs— _fuck_. He scrambled to pick up his clothes, slid out, and headed straight home where he may have passed out and gotten to work late. Rude didn’t even look at him. …that was probably fine.

As time went on, it was clear they were able to do missions with great success, still. The two of them busted in on a shady cell of materia traffickers in Sector 2, wiping out those responsible and gathering up the materia for Shinra to redistribute. They shared a grin and a nod at the end of it, and that was when Reno knew he had really, _really_ fucked it up.

When Tseng approached Rude about the Ancient, he immediately jumped at the opportunity. He didn’t have a clue on how to convince her to come in, and frankly he didn’t care. All he really wanted was a chance to talk to the witch.

Reno tapped his stick on the door to the stupid flower house, an unusual mannerism which caused Elmyra to open the door only a few inches. She looked at Reno in surprise, but could recognize the expensive suit. She pulled the door open, gesturing for him, as he explained Rude had ‘other plans’, so he’d be checking in.

Reno was not good at talking with women like this. It was awkward to the point of suffering. He did not want tea, or small talk, and he had genuinely thought she’d just be _home_. So instead he picked at his nails, kicked his feet up on the table, stared at the ceiling, and sighed.

“Yo, how do you change the lights up there?” he finally asked.

Elmyra hummed from in the kitchen. “Rude does it for us, now.”

Reno choked out a laugh and then didn’t say anything else until Aerith came through the doors.

“ _Finally_ ,” he said, hopping up and grabbing Aerith by the arm. “Come with me.”

“Aerith!” Elmyra called with worry.

“Don’t worry about me, mom, it’s just Reno,” Aerith soothed, and let herself be pulled out the door before she elbowed Reno in the gut. “Hey! Quit grabbing me so hard, you skinny brute.”

Reno frowned at her, yanking his hand away. “Fine, jeez, just—I wanted to talk to you.”

Aerith stared at him for a moment, considering. He wondered sometimes if she wasn’t some old-timey special race, but rather a robot, gathering all this information for some secret database. She had that look when she thought. Instead, she shrugged and gestured. “Over here.”

She led him to a bench surrounded by different types of flowers, far enough away from the house that neither would have to worry about an eavesdropping mother figure.

“Shit sucks since we took your dumb ass out,” Reno said as he flopped down on the bench. It was clear: he was sulking.

Aerith sat down gingerly next to him, twirling her guard stick thoughtfully. “When I saw you two, I figured you wanted me gone, so…”

“It wasn’t _you_ ,” Reno said exasperatedly, as if she were dumb for not understanding his problem. “I fucked the shit out of him that night and we haven’t so much as shared a smoke since.”

She looked confused, and then a little sad. She rested the staff on her knees. “Why not?”

“Fuck if I know! He’s avoiding me. Think he came to his senses.” 

“His _senses_ are that he likes you,” she chided. “Why are you here and not him?”

“That night, he said he didn’t want to see you again. Cause you’d take one look at him and know.” Reno smiled a bit at the memory. He’d gotten a good jab in that had made Rude shocked and then laughed, too.

“Does he know you came out here to just tell me all the details, anyway?”

“I hardly gave you all the details,” Reno huffed, leaning forward on his knees. “And he doesn’t. Hell, he could think I’m here to tell you how awful he is.”

“You _did_ just tell me he never wanted to see me again,” Aerith said, leaning back against the bench with a half smile.

“Yeah, but that’s ‘cause of me. Of what I did. He’s definitely embarrassed about it. Hell, he probably didn’t even really…” He thought of him moaning at him to fuck him. Reno hadn’t thought in a million year’s he’d want to be topped, but he had just been full of sexy surprises, hadn’t he? Reno was blushing and there was nothing he could do about it.

“So why are you here?”

“I don’t know!” Reno shouted, staring up at the steel sky. It was dark and empty, other than the flickering of lights from the bottom of the plate. Like shitty stars. “You’re basically a witch, I thought I could pick your brain and—”

“A _witch_? Hardly, I just sell—”

“Can it. ‘Simple flower girl’ my _whole ass_ ,” Reno grumbled.

She wasn’t even offended. Instead, she made a considerate noise. “Why not just ask him out?”

“It usually turns into ‘Rude invites all coworkers within a 10 meter radius’ so we’ve just had a lot of Shinra Dinners. Which are just as _fun_ as they sound.”

“Show up at his place?” she asked.

“Not my style,” Reno scoffed. “Way too damn clingy.”

Aerith looked at him for a long moment, as if she could pry it out of him: _what else do you think is ‘clingy’, weirdo?_ “Well, then call his bluff.”

“What do you mean?” Reno finally met her gaze.

“Seduce him, dummy,” Aerith said. She looked convinced. “Wear something eye catching.”

“I have a _uniform_ ,” Reno gestured at himself.

“Well, alter it—”

“My tits are _literally already out_ ,” Reno said through gritted teeth.

She didn’t even miss a beat. “Good point. Tighter pants? Get some kinda job where you have to take your jacket off and get all wet. See through white shirt? C’mon, look at you.”

“All that’s gonna do is send him home to, I don’t know, self flagellate at seeing my dumb ass.”

“Well, don’t let him! Aren’t you super annoying? Just prevent him from running away.”

“Super annoying!?” Reno squawked, voice running high and nasal. …well, point made.

“You could try sexting him,” Aerith hummed.

“Oh, fuck off. What the hell do _you_ know about sexting?”

Aerith giggled, pulling a cheap flip phone out of her sundress pocket. “Zack got me a phone and—”

“Who the hell is—wait a minute, are you _dating_ that SOLDIER from the club? That one-night stand?”

Aerith, finally, looked offended. Reno immediately felt a small bit of regret, but also a bit of smirking success. Gotcha, for once. “What! That night he took me straight home and made sure I was safe. All we did was french a little, he was a perfect gentleman. But he did get a little more perverted as time went on, and he doesn’t have a lot of free time, so…” She giggled, then, staring up at the sky. “Anyway, I know plenty about _sexting_ , Reno, I’m not a child.”

Reno sighed. How had it come to this? He was talking to the damn Shinra ward like she could actually help him in a situation that he himself fucked up. He’d purposely run out on Rude. He just hadn’t wanted it to be _sappy_ , you know?

Aerith touched his knee, gently. “It’s not sappy to have something nice.”

Reno looked down at her, horrified that she could read minds, when he realized he had said all that _out loud_. He moaned, letting his face fall into his hands. “Fuck, I’m an idiot.”

“You said it, not me,” she said cheekily. “You just said you ran out on him.”

“I may have snuck out in the middle of the night,” he sighed.

“ _Reno_. Not to kick a man when he’s down, but um, are you super dumb?”

“Fuck you, flower girl.”

“Reno, he was respecting you.” She put the staff on the ground so she could turn to him, pulling one leg further up on the bench. “You guys did the nasty—”

“It was _not_ nasty—”

“—and then you disappeared. Did you talk to him about it at all? Flirt with him?”

“…no, I figured I didn’t want to make it seem like…” Reno stopped. “Shit. I dipped and then never brought it up again. _Fuck._ I am _an idiot_ ,” he repeated.

“At this point you don’t even have to seduce him, you could just say ‘I was wrong, I love you’—”

“Whoa! Hey. Don’t go crazy,” Reno said, standing up and tugging his jacket down. “That’s not what this is about. I just want my friend back.”

Aerith was glaring daggers at him. “So you _don’t_ want him.”

“I don’t want… everything that comes with that,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. His mag rod hung off of his wrist by the strap, knocking against the bench. “I don’t like that intimacy shit. Sex is good, but it just gets all fucking complicated when you start adding in dumb girly feelings. No offense.”

“Lots taken,” she said.

“Well, you’ve given me something to think about,” Reno said. “Think that’s all, then.”

Aerith shook her head with a soft, sad laugh. “Not even gonna try and tell me to come in?”

“Not this time. And it’ll be Rude, next time.” He started walking away. “I sure as fuck ain’t gonna change your light bulbs.”

Aerith watched him go, and for the first time, worried for Rude.

* * *

Reno returned to work the next day close to on time. It was early enough that only he and Rude were in, since Tseng had meetings with Heidegger and Veld. “Morning, partner,” he said easily as he threw himself into his chair.

“Morning,” Rude replied. He didn’t say anything else, so Reno glanced over at him, and could see Rude’s head turn just a bit. He’d been watching him. A tiny nervous thrill shot through him. The mere fact that he had it this bad was sign enough that he should never have slept with him.

“She’s screwing a SOLDIER,” Reno said conversationally. Rude choked on his coffee. “She told me she was _sexting_ him. Gross!”

“Hmm.” Rude wiped the coffee off of his desk. “Why were you talking to her about that?”

“Just checking in, Rude, jeez,” Reno defended. “She was dying to tell somebody. Typical chick.”

“Huh.” Rude took a long drink from the mug, emptying it, and then set it down. “Good for her. You should probably leave that out of the report.” He finally made eye contact with Reno. “Best to stay on Tseng’s good side.”

Reno cackled. “He should probably know about her _phone_ , at least.”

“Honestly?” Rude murmured. “Leave her something private.”

That made Reno double take, and he scoffed incredulously. “She’s not your little sister. We’ve been surveilling her since before either of us worked here. She don’t get ‘privacy’.”

Rude’s expression flattened out into assassin neutral and Reno knew he fucked up. “Maybe she should.” He turned back to his terminal.

“You’re goin fuckin’ soft, Rude,” Reno said instead, irritated, and left the room. Fuck the report. He was going to go beat up holographic terrorists.

The training facility always got his heart rate going, and after narrowly avoiding getting turned into a frog (twice!) he only shoved two Shinra soldiers into a wall as he made his way back to the Turks’ office, glowering at anyone within range. Rude was gone, but Tseng wasn’t, and he looked up with a stoic shrug. “Thanks for getting your report in on time,” Tseng murmured. “I also need to talk to you about something rather important.”

Report? Reno’s face did not betray him, but he was one hundred and ten percent sure he hadn’t even started on it. Then he remembered Rude wanting to ‘give Aerith privacy’ — the fucker had logged into Reno’s terminal to submit a fake report. It left him feeling the duality of it: glad he didn’t have to do another pointless report about nothing, and furious that Rude had gone out of his way to do his work because he wouldn’t _like_ how _Reno_ did things, all because of the stupid _girl_. Reno tugged on his jacket lapel, swinging down in front of Tseng’s desk. He cleared his throat. “What’s up, boss?”

“I’m sure he’s already told you, but Rude’s reassignment has already gone through—”

“ _WHAT?_ ”

Tseng stared at Reno, unflinching. “I guess he didn’t tell you. That makes a little more sense. It’s not permanent, Reno, sit— _SIT_. Down.”

Reno, halfway out the door already, stopped. He turned, baring his teeth, and sat back down. “What the fuck are you talking about,” he growled.

“The president’s son has been… acting up,” Tseng said. The way he talked about Rufus was always professional and distant, even though Reno knew Tseng and Rufus had been as thick as thieves ever since Rufus stole his first helicopter. “We are sending him to a _facility_ in a nearby city in order to help him work through his… Issues.” Tseng turned a paper over, looking at it instead of Reno. “Rude’s temperament and loyalty put him as a good fit for the role of bodyguard while Rufus is re-acclimated to his future role as President of the company. And since he comes from Junon, Rude has an intimate knowledge of the place that adds more reassurance.” Tseng finally looked up, meeting Reno’s furious blue eyes. “The fact that he didn’t tell you tells me that you two have been on the outs. Perhaps this will be good, then. A chance for the two of you to calm down about whatever it is you idiots fight over.”

“How long?” Reno asked, voice tight and quiet.

“The President doesn’t care for his son to be out of reach for very long,” Tseng said placidly. “Not long. Six months, max. I can work on getting you a new field partner in the meantime. Train them up, and then when Rude returns, if the two of you have decided to stop having a _tiff_ , then it all returns to normal.”

Reno kicked back in the chair, shoving a hand into his hair. He stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what he’s mad about, but this is low,” he muttered.

Tseng watched him for a moment, toying with a pen before scooting back out of his chair. “You can likely still find him. They have been loading up the coaches to head out to Junon all morning.” He lifted a smooth eyebrow. “As long as you don’t _make a scene_.”

“Nah. Nah, nah, fuck that,” Reno said, standing up and pacing. “He didn’t wanna tell me anything? Fine. If he didn’t want to hang around me, why would I go chasing after his flat ass?” He cringed. He knew it was decisively _not_ flat.

“Reno, you _can_ be a handful,” Tseng said. “Rude was the only one you didn’t drive absolutely crazy. It’ll be better to put you in a mentor status. Perhaps it will… calm you down.”

Reno kicked his garbage can over. There was nothing in it. “Calm down my ass!”

Tseng shrugged. “Maybe you’d better take the rest of the day.”

“You’re _pitying_ me now!?” Reno howled, and stalked to Rude’s trash can to knock it over, too. It was full of crumpled up papers.

“No, but I don’t believe I’ll get any work done with you acting out like this,” Tseng said. “Get out of here. I expect you to be ship shape tomorrow morning.”

Growling, Reno stalked to his desk and saw a folded piece of paper. He glanced to Rude’s garbage can and then picked up whatever it was on his desk and crumpled it up before shoving it into his own pocket. He didn’t stop at a bar: he went straight home and crawled into a vodka bottle. He forgot about the paper.


	2. Chapter 2

Rufus Shinra was not a drug addict. That much was made very clear when he was told about this assignment. He was, however, a victim of his own making, because Rufus loved attention. Since he’d come of age 5 years prior, he had done all he could to get in the limelight. He was a known playboy and fancied clubs and expensive company. He got into frivolous (but public) legal battles. He would occasionally act out and say something that did not line up with the Shinra Electric Power Company’s _modus operandi_ , and then he would make an impassioned televised apology and garner sympathy with the less than pleasant slums masses. And all through this, he had never appeared to be weak or even unworthy as the eventual future president of the company. He had star power, and that gave him real power.

Then he became ill.

Shinra had an entire science division, and the president had refused to put his son anywhere near Hojo. He wasn’t _stupid_ ; he knew Hojo would claim his cure would work and then turn Rufus into some two-headed beast. President Shinra had a trusted medical specialist in Junon with an extremely high-tech setup, all untouched by his own company’s staff. If there was one thing President Shinra had a weakness for, it was his son.

However, Rufus’s rather public life would make it known if he was not present frequently in the media, and he did not want to imply there was any weakness within the family in any capacity, so a small rumor mill would have to carry it on that Rufus was _in rehab_ or _being told to memorize Shinra policies_ or _on a six-month bender_ with no real answer until his triumphant return. By then he will have whittled up a proper story that did not allude to how Rufus struggled to get up out of bed.

How he struggled to eat and stay awake.

Tseng had been close with him, tending to him as frequently as he was able. The president knew what was happening with his son was serious, and it was cemented when Tseng’s emotionless visage slipped in front of him when he’d asked ‘How is he today?’ a week before.

Tseng had work in the city, so he would have to stay. A Turk would need to be stationed with Rufus to protect him, as well as take care where a nurse was not available: someone who could be trusted entirely, but wouldn’t leave the man to fend for himself. Tseng had been visibly relieved when Rude accepted. He knew how close he was with Reno, but Rude was the right man. He did not wear his heart on his sleeve, but it was clear that he had a soft heart where it mattered.

And so Rude sat across from Rufus in the stretch coach; Rufus splayed out and wrapped in a blanket, half delirious from medication and drowsiness. Rude, with just one flat packed suitcase, an extra pair of sunglasses, a phone and a sketchbook, with an indeterminate number of days away from home ahead of him.

Shinra would pay for his apartment and utilities in his absence. He’d brought in his two plants to the office that morning with Tseng’s promise that they would be tended to. He would have nothing to worry about, other than Aerith — and after Reno had volunteered to take the missions, he knew he could leave her safe with him.

Or he’d thought, when Reno had scoffed about keeping the phone private.

The thing was, Rude was very aware of Zack Fair. He had recognized him at the club, but chose not to say anything out of turn. There weren’t a _lot_ of surviving SOLDIERs walking about, and it was quite easy to track him down. He’d told him to give Aerith a phone — a phone Rude provided — and to tell her it was from the SOLDIER himself. But there was already a number on the phone in the contacts, just ‘R’.

The night he’d given Zack the phone to give to her, Rude sent a text message.

R  
_Just in case._

He did not get a response. But it sounded like she was using the phone. His lip curled down in dismay at the thought at how she was using it. God, he really did treat her like a sister, didn’t he? Idiot.

He supposed he could have told Reno that the phone was _from Rude_ , but it was clear Reno did not appreciate the idea of treating her like a person instead of Shinra’s potential lab rat.

Rude stared out the window, listening to the sound of dirt road against tires and Rufus’ watery breaths. He should have told Reno.

He should have brought up the opportunity the second Tseng talked to Rude about it, but things had become so twisted up. The two of them had taken their dynamic in a completely new direction, and Reno had tried desperately tried to put it all back into the tube. That message felt loud and clear to Rude, and he tried to deal with that. He really had tried. But every fucking day he’d glance over and catch himself staring at Reno’s face, his lips, his neck.

He’d been waking up with a stiffy for _weeks_. That shit hadn’t happened since he was _sixteen_.

And that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst was the stinging, stupid heartache. That could _not_ go back in the tube. At least, not without some peace and quiet, and without Reno coming by and squeezing it back out every time he managed to stuff it back in.

Rude had also been going through a lot of nonmetaphorical tubes of lube.

As it was, if Rude had told Reno, Reno would try to a) convince him not to go or worse, b) convince Tseng to let the two of them go together. That was counterproductive for several reasons, so he’d just kept it to himself, and then he’d just been so pissed this morning that Reno wouldn’t just let it _lie_. So he filled out Reno’s report (his password was always _palmerisachode69_ ), went through ten variations of a hastily written note, lightly stroked his plants, and then fucking _left_.

The sun was going down. They’d been driving for several hours. He was regretting not saying anything the longer he was away. It felt like withdrawal: what would he do without Reno around? His chest felt tight. He felt—stupid. Very, very stupid.

His chest pocket buzzed.

He sat up with a jerk, reaching into the pocket for his phone.

Reno  
_fuck u partnr_

Rude lifted an eyebrow. He glanced over at Rufus, who had fallen back asleep.

Rude  
_Tseng told you, huh._

Reno  
_how coud yuo leave_  
_??_  
_serkously_

Rude  
_Have you been drinking?_

Reno  
_yes? arr uyo my fuckin dad? I can drink thhx_

Rude  
_Sorry._

Rude wasn’t going to get much out of this. Reno was not spitting mad, or angry drunk. Depending on how long he’d been drinking, it was very possible Reno had progressed to full on melancholic drunk. And upsetting him in that state wasn’t going to do any good for anyone.

Reno  
_no don’t. do not. I made u mad somehow_  
_idk ifu knew but I ma v good at ruinng shit_  
_Im sorry I shodntl have texx like this_  
_tmorow_  
_canI call??_

Rude  
_Yes. Drink some water. Idiot._

Reno  
_FUCK YUO_

Rude sighed, couldn’t stop himself from chuckling a bit at it. Antagonistic little prick.

* * *

Rude stood outside the door while Rufus was in the first clinic appointment with his new doctor, or one of them. The whole place had been surprisingly full of activity, and frankly some nurses had been so attentive he wondered briefly why they _had_ wanted him to come along. But just leaving Rufus in that room with no one else from the company inside left a strangely nervous feeling twisting in his chest.

Though that may have been his phone ringing. The twisting feeling suddenly got a lot worse.

He picked it up and was relieved to see it was Tseng. “Sir.”

“I trust you’ve been set up comfortably?” Tseng asked.

“Yes sir. Currently at the facility with Rufus and his counsellors.”

There was no reason to keep the lie going, literally standing inside the hospital on a secure line with Tseng, but he felt the need to address it as such. That made it easier to lie about it, later. Tseng understood that.

“Good. Keep an eye on him. He can be particularly stubborn.”

Tseng’s voice was dripping with sad warmth. That man really cared for Rufus, to the point where Rude wanted to ask him just how _much_. “Yes sir. So far he’s yelled at me twice for lending a hand, so.” That was true. He’d sworn like a sailor at Rude after Rude had accidentally overheard Rufus quietly asking for Tseng. Rufus hated being thought of as weak, even in this situation. He sighed, thinking how familiar _that_ was.

“Good. Glad you’re there to keep him in line.” _In high spirits_ was the message, there. “I’ll still expect reports from you. And know that I’d prefer you keep your business close to him. If you can find a trusted contact to keep an eye on him, you may visit family.”

Rude let his head hit the wall behind him. “Yes sir. Is that all?”

“It is,” Tseng said, and then, “but may I ask something candid?”

Rude shut his eyes. “If this is about…”

“Reno? Yes. Why didn’t you tell him anything? We could have at least been getting started on finding him a partner if he’d known.”

“He’s also very stubborn,” Rude said quietly. “He’d probably have tried to come along, or get me to stay. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Hope so, Rude, because if he comes again this hungover again, it’s going to be _very_ hard to keep him on task.”

Now Reno was his problem too. Rude beat his head on the wall, just twice. “Understood, sir.”

“Very good,” Tseng replied, and then the call ended.

The door opened slowly. He stood up straight and tucked his phone away. Rufus appeared, fully and well dressed. “Let’s go, Rude,” he said. There was a bit more pep in his step than earlier. “No more appointments until tomorrow. I’d like a drink.”

Rude glanced past Rufus into the office where the doctor sat, and she gave a soft smile and a shrug. “That shouldn’t affect his current medication.”

Rufus’s shoulders stiffened. “I do not need my bodyguard’s approval on what I plan on doing, doctor.”

Rude hung his head and quickly followed after Rufus. “How was it?” he asked quietly.

Rufus gave a small shrug. “Not all bad. Not all good.” He glanced back at Rude, who was vigilantly checking every corner as they moved. “But I’m feeling optimistic.”

“Mm,” Rude affirmed. They made their way back to the expensive hotel where they shared a quiet lunch. When they walked to the elevator, Rufus took Rude’s arm when the doors slid shut. Rude said nothing, only gave easy support as he helped Rufus back to his rooms, hung up his jackets and folded his clothes, and put him back to bed.

“You’re not going to lurk in here every hour are you?” Rufus said, frowning.

“If you’d prefer not…”

“I’d definitely prefer not.”

Rude offered a small smile, private and understanding. “I’m next door.” He bowed his head politely. “You know how to get me.”

“Big red button, scream my head off, something like that.” Rufus gave a curt nod, picking up a remote control. He did not look back at Rude. “Thank you, Rude.” It was sincere.

Rude left quickly and went to unpack his suitcase properly. He hadn’t exactly been thinking clearly when he packed up his clothes. No workout clothes, no razors, definitely not enough socks. He was going to have to take a trip to buy some essentials, but he’d need to scope out the entire hotel and the block before he felt comfortable being more than thirty feet away from the Vice President.

He shrugged out of his suit jacket and pulled his gloves off as his phone rang, again. He let it ring three times before he picked it up. “You didn’t drink any water, did you?”

“No,” came the soft sheepish answer. “Sorry I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Mm.” Rude tucked the phone against his ear. “Tseng berated me for your being hungover, by the way.”

“For fuck’s sake, I’m sorry,” Reno whined. “You kinda threw me for a fucking loop, yo!”

“…sorry.” Rude unbuttoned his shirt and then just eased back onto the large hotel bed. “I couldn’t tell you before, because you’d have fought with me to stay. Or to come with. And I’d planned on telling you that morning, but…” He toed out of his dress shoes, and then crossed his ankles. So comfortable.

“You got all pissed off about your girl’s fucking phone. So you filled out my report, huh. Bet you didn’t mention the phone.”

“Please don’t piss me off again, Reno.”

Reno scoffed, but he felt chastised enough to be quiet for a minute. “You’re right. I would have fought with you about it.”

Rude sighed. When he didn’t have to _see_ Reno and his deep v-shirts and sharp collar bones and freckled cheeks and red tattoos, _smell_ him and his cologne and his cigarettes and his hair gel, it was much easier to talk to him. “I’d have ended up trying to convince Tseng you should come with. It wasn’t what Tseng wanted. Hell, Tseng wanted to be here instead.”

“Yeah, that guy spends a _lot_ of time with the Veep,” Reno said. “How’s he doing?”

Rude frowned, realizing now that he was not allowed to say the truth. Not even to Reno. He inhaled deeply. “Getting by. Cussing me out one minute, being terrifyingly polite the next.”

“Sounds about right,” Reno laughed. “So uh…”

Was he finally going to mention the note? Rude pressed his lips together, waiting.

“Can I do this on the regular? Call you?” Reno sounded almost shy.

“Uh. Yeah. Of course,” Rude said, trying not to stammer. Had he… _not_ read the note? Had he not _found_ the note? He supposed it was possible he had missed it. And it was possible that it hadn’t even merited talking about.

“Cool. Yeah. Tseng’s gonna stick me with some kid I gotta mentor I guess. It’s going to be weird. I’ve basically worked with you exclusively for… a while. A long time.”

“It’s weird already,” Rude agreed. “Just being here. And I can’t even go anywhere. Have to keep a close eye on him. Tseng-close, apparently.”

“Don’t be making me jealous, now.”

Rude felt himself blush and didn’t say anything right away. The pause was long enough that he heard Reno try to take it back, but Rude spoke over him. “I can already tell you you’d be jealous,” he said, trying to clear the air now that they were this far away. He could get away with this, without self destructing. “We ate lunch together. Nobody else around.”

Reno’s laugh was surprised and candid. Rude’s chest felt warm. “Wow, I am. You haven’t let me eat dinner with you without some Shinra officer present in like a month.”

“Just protecting—” _myself_ , “—my virtue,” Rude said sarcastically.

“How can I prove I’m worthy of dinner alone?” Reno asked, his voice small again.

“Maybe the witch can help.”

“Been there, done that. Didn’t get a chance to do any of her tricks. You took off.”

Rude stared up at the ceiling, turning that over in his brain. “Wait, you took over Aerith duty because you wanted to talk to her…”

“About you,” Reno finished for him.

“Oh,” Rude said. He wasn’t sure what else to say; he didn’t know what Reno wanted, and he didn’t want to project anything.

“Well, I’m sure you have more games of poker and rehab sessions to attend with the big guy, so I’ll uh. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sounds good, Reno.”

“See ya, partner.” The phone beeped, the call ended. Rude sighed and reached for his sketchbook. He couldn’t really draw, but doodling designs and checkerboard patterns helped him clear his head. He didn’t know what that had been, and he didn’t know how to feel. But he was glad that it had almost felt like progress.


	3. Chapter 3

Elena wasn’t so bad.

She was kinda ditzy, which was _really bizarre_. She was book smart, and cute with a sharp little blonde bob. She was a crack shot with her pistol, too. But she also had no filter and struggled to pick on some of Reno’s more rude sarcastic remarks.

It worked out pretty well, to be honest.

He was watching her shoot a target when he boredly crammed his hands into his jacket. He felt a piece of crumpled paper in his hand and he squinted, confused. Was this a bar tab receipt or something? He pulled it out, unwrapping it and squinting. Wet ink that had smeared a bit from sweat and time, but it was very readable:

_I’ll miss you. I already miss you. Sorry._

He stared at it for a minute, scrambling to think of _when_ this came from. He knew Rude’s handwriting anywhere, obviously, but why was this shoved into his fucking coat? And then he remembered kicking over his can, and then Rude’s, picking up the letter from his desk, and then shoving it into his pocket.

He hadn’t worn this blazer in two weeks. He’d been lucky to find it crammed behind his couch. That had been a depressing and disgusting day.

Elena kept shooting, and Reno’s hand began to shake.

He had still been calling Rude. The calls were short, never more than 10 minutes. He’d always had to come up with a proper reason. _I heard this really bad joke today_. Or _Chandi’s bar got shut down!_ Or _Tseng almost got into a fistfight with some sad-looking dude from Urban Planning._

Their calls were friendly. Chaste. Occasionally they would joke about Rude being compromised by Rufus in some way. Rude always sounded so warm, if not as relaxed as he would have been six months prior. There was still something there, something hurt, and Reno didn’t know how to properly mend that, so instead he just left it alone. The body could heal itself that way.

Now, staring at this note, he didn’t want to call him. He felt like he wanted to say things that were sentimental. And that was too hard, on the phone or otherwise.

“Hey, you got him, congrats,” Reno said, coming up next to Elena. “Let me show you a little trick, then we can get lunch.”

“Sounds good, sir!”

Reno frowned. “God, that’s weird.”

She blushed. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Don’t stop, or anything,” Reno teased, and picked up the gun.

* * *

Rude had been settling in to his hotel lifestyle well enough. He’d made a trip three days after he arrived so he could get his essentials. He’d made basic acquaintance with most of the hotel and hospital clinic staff. He’d found the hotel gym to be quite suitable and spent a good amount of time there. It was easier with Rufus being medicated. He was always alert enough to call the man if he needed anything, but it was rare. Rufus was self sufficient, if a bit needy for chit-chat. Either way, Rude always kept his phone on his person.

But he had to admit, he liked the occasional call from Reno, short and sweet as they were.

He was finishing up a set of squat reps when his phone buzzed with a text message.

Reno  
 _I miss you, too. Idiot._

Rude stared at it and then realized with an embarrassed groan that his stupid friend had just _now_ found the note. It had been _weeks_.

Rude  
 _Unbelievable._  
 _Have you just not been at your desk?_

Reno  
 _I found it in my jacket. I threw it behind the couch and got wasted the day I crammed it in my pocket_  
 _Not my fault TBH_

Rude wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist. And then, in a strange fit of whimsy, Rude turned towards the mirror. It had been weeks since he’d been out here. Two months since the incident. This was a bad idea. But he was going to do it anyway. He pulled the bottom of his workout tank top up, held it in his teeth, and then took a picture of himself, neck down, and the barbell. He sent it.

Rude  
 _Can we continue this later_  
 _I’m in the middle of something._  
 _[picture attached]_

Then he tossed the phone aside and went back to lifting. He heard it buzz once, twice, three times over the next fifteen minutes. It filled him with amused determination. He’d finish the workout and drive Reno a little crazy before responding.

He had to admit, waiting to read the response was driving _himself_ crazy.

Rude succeeded, though. He stacked the weights, threw a towel around his neck, grabbed his phone and headed back up to his room. When the door was shut behind him, he opened the messages.

Reno  
 _holy shit_  
 _I definitely miss that. you haven’t spotted me in the gym forever either_  
 _You can’t just send me a picture like that and then ignore me Rude_

Rude  
 _Can’t talk, gotta shower._

Reno  
 _Shower pics?_

Rude snapped a photograph of the shower — an extravagantly nice one, to be fair — with his gloved middle finger visible as he lifted it up within the camera’s view.

Reno  
 _I deserved that_  
 _Fuck_

Rude climbed into the shower, not entirely sure what he hell he was doing, short of setting himself up for more complicated messy feelings. Okay, he knew exactly what he was doing: he hoped that idiot saw the picture and felt horny. God knows Rude was fantasizing that it did, and fell against the wall in the shower to jerk off at the thought of Reno struggling to hide a boner at work, throwing himself into the bathrooms to quietly deal with that on company time.

Rude frowned at himself, staring at the drain afterwards, and didn’t know what the hell he was gonna do with himself. He took the time to shave his head, chest, and pubes. The whole ‘near constant state of sad horniness’ had led towards Rude getting very friendly with himself, and the less hair there was, the easier the cleanup. Being smooth was a small luxury he could afford himself stuck in a hotel in his home town.

He hopped out of the shower, toweling himself off when he picked up the phone. No new messages. He squashed the feeling of disappointment and went to get dressed. It was close to dinnertime with Rufus.

* * *

Reno should not have texted Rude while eating dinner with Elena.

The picture Rude sent him, sweaty abs and all, had left Reno a little loss for words. He’d had to pretend to choke on his beer so that Elena didn’t ask to see what he’d gawked at on his phone. And then he’d fallen into a tiny bit of flirting, and then he hated himself.

And the worst part about all of this was that fucking cute witch had predicted this. He’d been tempted to hunt her down so he could talk to her. Elena was babbling about something that Tseng had said, but Reno only politely pretended to listen.

He had to even the score. He had to seduce Rude, or at least, seduce him into sharing more pictures. 

He paid for their dinner — he always put these on Shinra’s tab, honestly — and asked, “You okay to get home?”

“Always. Have a good night, sir!”

“Night, Elena.”

Reno then realized what he could send was just the same as what he’d been sent. He hadn’t gotten a really hard workout in in a while. This would be good for him physically _and_ sexually.

Reno realized his problem too late, the following day at the company gym. He’d worked out for a solid hour, looked at himself in the mirror, and knew he could not take a damn picture of himself. His face was so red the cheek tattoos were hardly visible. He was sweaty and his legs and arms felt weak. He was an idiot.

He hunched over a bench, pulling out his phone with shaky fingers.

Reno  
 _how did you take such a hot photo_  
 _I’ve been in the gym for an hour and I look like a hedgehog pie_

Rude  
 _Show me._

Reno  
 _fuck no_

Rude  
 _Do it._

Scowling, Reno took a picture of himself, no mirror, just holding the camera up above and down. His hair was more red than his face, at least. It didn’t help.

Reno  
 _[picture attached]_

Rude  
 _Cute._

Reno  
 _that’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to me_

Rude  
😎

Reno stuffed his phone in his pocket, hand over his face. “Jeez…” At least no one could tell he was blushing. He went straight to the showers. As he stood under the lukewarm spray, he thought of their post-coital conversation. _Now I know why you don’t use the locker room showers._

He shuddered, hot memories of his heavy cock in his hands, between them. The soft huffing groans, the tight press of their bodies.

His hand shot out to turn the water to icy cold. He yelped like a kicked dog, but it helped. Last thing he needed was some lowlife officer seeing him sporting wood in the shower.

He dried off, shivering and dressing back in his suit, and nearly jumped out of his skin when Elena surprised him outside of the doors.

“Hi! Sorry. I saw you go in here and was um, waiting. Are we gonna do drills in the training room today?”

“Uhh…” Shit. Was that today?

“Because I was hoping instead maybe I could do some research, there’s something I’m really interested in—”

“That’s a _great_ idea,” Reno said with relief, and threw an arm over Elena’s shoulders. “Let me show you the library.”

Reno left her to her own devices, strolling back to their dark offices when his phone dinged with the custom notification he had for Rude. He pulled his phone out so fast he almost dropped it.

Rude  
 _Do you actually?_

Reno  
 _??_

Rude  
 _Miss me._

Reno  
 _yes what the fuck obviously. Elena’s fine, you’ll like her but doing missions with her is gonna be like wrangling a puppy_

Rude  
 _I don’t mean missions._

Reno  
 _what do you mean then_

Rude  
 _You know what I mean, Reno._

Reno stared at his phone and felt his palms get sweaty. How had he been reduced to a teenager? Tseng was not at his desk. Reno was alone in the room. The only problem now was, what kind of response was warranted here? Did Rude want affection, or did he want his dick? Reno squeezed his fingers into a fist, thinking.

Reno  
 _yes_  
 _obviously_  
 _I think about it all the fucking time_

He stared at the screen. ‘Read’. The indicator dots… Stopping. Starting. Stopping. _Fuck_ , he _was_ a teenager again. This was going to make him lose his goddamn mind. What the fuck was Rude typing. What was he thinking about? Did Reno have to stay at work when he clearly had more pressing matters to attend to, on his phone?

Rude  
 _Me too._

Reno cursed him. “That’s it?” he muttered, fingertips tapping on the back of his phone with nerves before another message blipped up.

Rude  
 _Where are you?_

Reno  
 _the office_

Rude  
 _Text me when you get home._

Reno stared at his phone like he could set it on fire with his mind. 

Reno  
 _why not now?_

No response.

Mother _fucker_.


	4. Chapter 4

Rude had spent the early evening playing cards with Rufus. Rufus needed the distraction: he was hooked up via IV to a bag full of disturbingly blue liquid. He was very tired and grouchy, but he wanted to prove he was still cognitively all there. Rude didn’t even attempt to throw the games and still lost five to three at gin rummy.

It had definitively helped Rufus’ sour disposition. Before he’d left, he snatched Rude’s glove-clad hand and said, “Thank you. Can you get me a scotch?”

Rude knew he wasn’t allowed to drink, and Rufus did too. Rude filled a glass with two fingers of the stuff provided by the hotel’s room service and left it on the bed-side table. Rufus nodded at him and then fell back against his pillows. He didn’t drink the stuff. He just wanted it there. A reminder, a future reward.

Rude was eighty percent sure the night nurse drank it, and she’d deserved it.

He made his way back to his own rooms, dimming the lights so he could pull his sunglasses off. If there was one thing he did like about this trip away from home, it was the light dimmers in every room. He felt like an idiot; why hadn’t he installed these at home years ago?

He made himself comfortable, toeing out of shoes and socks and switching from his pants with heavy chains to black sweats, and his silky button down and tie to just the black undershirt underneath. Then he propped himself up on his pillows and started into a new book he’d picked up out of the hospital gift shop.

Two hours later, he woke up, book open on his face with the sound of his phone lightly buzzing. He groaned, snatching the book and staring at how far he’d gotten. Ten pages. Damn, he’d been tired. His phone buzzed again. He tucked his bookmark into the paperback and tossed it aside to grab his phone.

Oh yeah — he’d teased Reno earlier today, hadn’t he? All things considered, he had been a bit maudlin when he’d been standing outside of Rufus’ hospital room to text Reno. When the conversation turned, he left him high and dry.

Reno  
 _the one time I dont want to be dragged into bar night and dinner is the one time Tseng says Lets take out Elena._  
 _I’m home_

Rude glanced at his watch, noting the time. He smirked. He left the current line of messages and instead sent one to Tseng.

Rude  
 _Did you take Reno out?_

The response was immediate.

Tseng  
 _Yes, and he was restless the whole time. Barely drank anything. What did you do?_

Rude  
 _Nothing. Thanks boss._

He was smirking a little. Well, at least he had made the man suffer. And for what? Rude didn’t even know to tell him. _Congrats on making it home. Good night!_ He switched back to his conversation with Reno.

Rude  
 _Sounds fun. I got my ass whooped at cards._

Reno  
 _just at cards huh_

Rude  
 _As if there is a soul in this city who could whoop my ass otherwise._

Reno  
 _so why’d you make me wait all day to talk?_

Rude  
 _I have a job. You’re distracting._

Reno  
 _IM distracting??_  
 _do you have any idea what you did to me today_

Rude  
 _Hm. I have my own ideas about it._

He shifted on the bed, knees spreading a bit. Reno was typing, stopping. Typing, stopping.

Reno  
 _did you get me riled up on purpose?_

Rude  
 _I always do that. You’re efficient when you’re mad._

Reno  
 _only person I was mad at was Tseng_  
 _fuck’s sake you basically booty called me and he forces me out to a bar_

Rude  
 _Is that what I did?_

Rude watched the dots appear and disappear. He was going to give Reno whiplash. He didn’t want to do it on purpose, necessarily, but when he thought back on the last time they got close and Reno skittered away like it _had_ been a onetime booty call. Rude did not want that. There was still no response.

Rude  
 _I’m only interested in a booty call if you don’t pretend it didn’t happen, partner._

This time, the response was immediate.

Reno  
 _I told you I’m good at ruining shit. I panicked dude  
I was afraid it’d change shit and you’d wanna marry me and idk man_

Rude  
 _I have to be honest, marrying you sounds awful._  
 _You’d probably use soap on my cast iron pan._  
 _I know for a fact you’d leave burn marks on my sofa. From god knows what._  
 _Also, you’re an idiot._

Reno  
 _I know_  
😎

Rude  
 _Flattering though that one night in my ass makes you think of marriage._

Reno  
 _…  
touche._  
 _I do think about it though. All the time._

Rude  
 _At work?_

Reno  
 _Yes, especially when you send me pics_  
 _I’m not gonna tell you how many times I jerked off to it_

Rude sat up a little straighter, feeling his cock twitch and start to fill. He shifted, left hand sliding over his abs. They were already at the point of no return, so why not be perfectly honest? Even as his thumb moved over the phone, he felt himself get harder. His fingers slid under the waistband of his pants, scratching lightly.

Rude  
 _I think about sucking your cock. A lot._  
 _I think about fucking you after a mission with my hand over your loud mouth._

Reno  
 _fuck. Whatever you want. I’m so fuckin hard_

Rude  
 _Show me._

Reno  
 _[image attached]_

His hand was wrapped around his cock in an instant at the sight: Reno’s pale chest and pink nipples, left hand holding his heavy, flushed cock. He was naked, though his feet were tangled in the sheets of his bed. Just the tail of his red hair was visible curling over one pectoral. The tip of his cock looked shiny, foreskin just lightly pulled back. Rude’s mouth watered.

Reno  
 _Can I see_

Rude tipped his head back, knowing the other man was squeezing his dick desperately halfway across the continent. There was something still raw and shy in all this; they didn’t want to call, to listen to each other, but he damn well wanted Reno to know what he was doing to him. He pulled his pants down around his thighs and attempted to snap a photograph of his hand lightly teasing his very thick and long cock. He frowned, dropping the phone and reaching over to his table to pull on his left glove. The next photo was similar to the first, only it showed his hand in stark contrast. That was a keeper. He sent it, and then let himself fall into the feeling of his own leather glove stroking his smooth cock, faster and faster as he gazed at Reno’s hard body, carved like marble.

Rude  
 _[image attached]_

It was over too fast. The texture of his glove and the sight of Reno’s almost wet dick was too much for him to take. The orgasm was a gut punch, causing his hips to shift up as he came all over his chest. The glove was in bad condition. He’d have to get up and wash it. When he could feel his legs.

Reno  
 _you shaved_  
 _I came the second that loaded_  
 _holy fuck you’re gonna kill me_  
 _please come home and fuck me right now_  
 _I fucking mean it_  
 _fuck I AM AN IDIOT RUDE_

Rude  
 _I know._  
 _And I did._  
 _I just ruined that glove for your sake, too._

Reno  
 _I will buy you gloves_  
 _I will buy you every glove_  
 _f uck_

Rude  
 _Good night, Reno._

He dropped the phone next to him and let out a soft, stupid laugh. Reno texted as much as he talked. He had spare gloves. Without having to come to the office the next day, there was suddenly no worry about Reno suddenly having a change of heart, again. He finally managed to push himself up and off the bed and thought with vague interest that he was going to have to completely ruin that man for anyone else. That gave him enough energy to get through his shower before passing out with a tiny smile on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there is something in this fic that is 100% not accurate according to the FF7 Ultimania book but I don’t give a single poop because it is my head canon and it will eventually lead to extremely amusing antics. When you see it, you’ll know. Only really applies if you’ve played FF7:R.
> 
> Content warning for basically implying *somebody* is on Fantasy Chemo.
> 
> No sleaze this chapter, sorry kids.
> 
> Find me on twitter @MantaWords and fulfill me with comments, my lifeblood.

“I’m sorry, what the fuck is that?”

Reno stared at the weird clump of electronics and wires on Elena’s desk. She was half hunched over it, looking tired with her hair pinned up with two mismatched barrettes. A half eaten sushi roll sat nearby, clearly stale and possibly food poisonous.

“I’m makin’ a bomb, dummy,” Elena said, clutching a delicate screwdriver. “Throwable! Is that a word? Anyway, you throw it on ‘em and they get the full boom.”

Reno stared at her. “You’re building a bomb. In _Shinra Headquarters._ Next to _my desk!_ ”

Elena paused. “Well it won’t…go off. I mean, probably.”

“TSENG!” Reno howled.

The man himself walked into the office a moment later, shuffling papers in his hands. “You don’t have to shout, Reno. Ah, how are the S-mines coming, Elena?”

“You knew?” Reno croaked.

They both ignored him. “Pretty good, sir! It’s kinda big though. I don’t want to have to carry a bag around with me. I’m mostly trying to see if the components will work in this circuit, and then I’ll try to shrink it down. I might need access to a lab, though. I need a soldering iron real bad.”

Tseng hummed his approval, putting his hand on Elena’s shoulder. “Good work,” he said before returning to his own desk.

Reno didn’t miss the look in her eyes. It was stars. It was pathetic, and he rolled his eyes. Not that he’d ever looked at anyone in his life like that, because he was not a child.

Ah, who was he kidding. His phone had been burning a hole through his pocket all day.

He had been trying very hard to focus on work. He’d gotten his rocks off and saw something he had worried he had lost forever. But that was it. No need to replay it over and over in his head, the mental image of cum shooting between leather fingers— _fuck_. He sat down hard at his desk, crossing his legs and staring down at his paperwork.

“The bombs,” Reno said. He cleared his throat, willing away the persistent hard-on he’d been dealing with since 9 AM. “Are you planning on using those on our first mission? They’re a little,” he waved his hand, “flashy.”

Elena frowned a bit. “You’re right. That’s why I’d like to shrink them down… Smaller explosions, too. More about blowing out a door or spooking someone out from behind a barricade, right? I promise I’ll get your approval before we go out with ‘em. I’ll show you how they work and everything.” She nodded resolutely. “I’m not sure if I should use them in the training sim…”

“You should,” Reno said. “We’ve only really shot guns. I wanna see what you can do without one. I almost never shoot on the job.” He gestured at his rod, hanging off the desk. “I can get a lot more done with this. Though I guess blowing somebody up isn’t gonna do a lot for interrogations…”

“Oh, I mean. I can also beat the crap out of you,” Elena said blandly, still staring deeply at the device.

“I’m sorry?” Reno laughed, cupping his hand to his ear. “Is that the sound of a baby challenge I hear?”

“Oh, believe me! I’m tougher than I look!” She finally looked up and grinned, her expression disarmingly sincere and toothy.

Reno hummed, finally distracted from his previous trouble. “Now this I gotta see. Tseng. Wanna watch me beat up my protege?”

“Wait, what?” Elena was the one to croak, now.

Tseng crossed his hands and made a thoughtful sound. “Sounds fun,” he said.

Reno stood up and pumped his fist. “Fuck yeah! C’mon kiddo. It’ll be fun.” He picked up his rod and swung it against his shoulder. “Don’t worry. We got Cure.”

Elena had a very kicked puppy expression, and Reno threw his arm around her shoulders as they walked to the training facility. Tseng shadowed them, carefully set aside in a viewing area while the three of them stepped within the dome.

“Don’t take it easy on me, now,” Reno said, cracking the rod out. It hummed with electricity.

Elena swallowed hard, flexing her own fists in fingerless gloves, and then stepped back into a defensive pose. “Whatever!” she shouted. “I can take it!”

Around them the blue of the room faded into a box-filled warehouse, and they jumped at each other.

Reno had not planned on using any actual electricity, but after Elena had successfully dodged several of his quick hits, he set up a mine of them, jumping back and forth with speed. Without a proper way to disperse of the mines, she had to jump and limbo out of the way to land any heavy punches on Reno.

And land them she also did. After twenty non-stop minutes, Tseng stood up and called it, causing the surrounding simulation to shimmer away. “Very good,” he said, and cast Cure on the both of them. Reno felt the bruises ease away, though he was still exhausted. Elena looked much worse for wear, her suit tinged with electrical burns. He laughed, walking up to her with one hand in the air.

Without missing a beat, she high-fived it, and then fell back on her ass.

“Carry me to the cafeteria,” she groaned.

Reno gave a full belly-laugh, hooking his rod strap around his wrist as he leaned down to help her up. “I don’t carry anybody, sister, but I’ll buy your lunch,” he said.

“Deal.”

“You gonna come with us, boss?” Reno asked, a bit of a skip in his step.

“No, I have business to check into,” he said. Tseng seemed much more at ease than usual. Reno was happy to have it. When Rufus had been sent away, Tseng had been very irritable. Reno was glad to put in the work if it made his boss less crotchety, and by proxy, less of a hard-ass. He saluted him and walked his mentee to the cafeteria. He bought her a fat pizza and a shake.

They sat down to eat, and Reno felt his chest tighten. He missed Rude. Rude was gonna love this chick. It bummed him out to think of how long he would be without his partner in crime. He let her eat most of the pizza, thumb brushing his pocket where his phone sat on silent.

He could _not_ let himself get distracted.

* * *

The doctors insisted he was improving.

Rude would have liked to know how they were judging this. Rufus’ mood, appetite, and appearance were certainly not improving. Some days he could barely get out of bed, and Rude knew some procedures to keep him clean and fed were humiliating. He did not participate, obviously, and when a nurse approached he kept out of the way. He did spend more time in Rufus’ room, next to the bed. He didn’t talk a lot with anyone besides Reno, so it was hard to make conversation, but Rufus didn’t want that as much.

“My book,” Rufus had said, not even lifting a hand to point. “You’ve got a good voice. Just. Just read it to me.”

“Sir?”

“Don’t make me ask again.” Only Rufus could make a breathless, weak request sound like a threat. It made Rude grin a bit, and picked it up. Three chapters in, Rufus had completely passed out. Rude carefully placed the book back on the bedside table before quietly exiting the room. He took out his phone.

“Tseng.”

“I don’t know if I trust the doctors,” Rude said softly.

“One moment.” He could hear footsteps, two doors opening, one locking, and then a soft puff of air as Tseng sat down somewhere private and comfortable. “Why do you say that?”

Rude slid back into his own room, locking the door. He glanced around in a strange moment of paranoia. There was nothing there. “The first few days he was here, they pricked him with every needle for every kinda test you could imagine. And the first week, he’d seemed to have been very upbeat. But the new regimen they’ve got him on…” He frowned. “He’s still stubborn, but…”

“Like a ghost?” Tseng asked quietly. He was struggling to hold his composure.

“Yeah.”

“He’ll be fine,” Tseng said. Rude could hear the way his chin stiffened in his words. “As far as we were able to find out, there’s something growing in him, and they have to… Kill it. And to do that, he’ll have to cheat death. Kill the thing in him, without succumbing himself.”

Rude pinched the bridge of his nose. That sounded insane. It was bad enough materia didn’t seem to do much other than perk him up for half an hour. He let out a slow exhale. “That’s a very optimistic way of telling me they’re poisoning him on purpose.”

“I don’t like it either, Rude,” Tseng hissed, and then took in a shaky breath. His next words were much more smooth. “The team there is not owned by Shinra, literally, but we do keep the lights on out there. They wouldn’t do anything malicious. It would quite literally be exchanging the demise of a corporate figure to crush their entire city.”

Rude frowned hard at that. The thought of losing the VP and his hometown all at once made his stomach wrench. “You’re right,” he said. “Sorry, sir.”

“No, no. It’s alright.” Tseng paused. “It must be difficult to be out there, alone. Have you been able to take time with your family?”

“No,” Rude sighed.

“So you’ve been quite isolated as well,” Tseng said. “No wonder you’re worried. I will make some arrangements to send someone out so that you can have a day to yourself, go further than a pharmacy.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’ll be happy to know Reno has turned into quite a good mentor.”

That surprised a chuckle out of Rude. “I don’t believe it.”

“Our new recruit is just irritating enough to be immune to Reno’s attitude. They’ve made it work,” Tseng said, affection coloring his voice. “When you return, we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

“As if we weren’t already,” Rude hummed quietly. It was nice to know Reno was getting by. He’d already heard plenty of good about Elena, but to hear it from Tseng filled him with relief.

“Smart man. Anything else?”

“No, sir.”

“I’ll let you know when you can take a day. Stay vigilant.” With that, Tseng hung up. Rude leaned against the wall. His thoughts crowded his mind in an uncomfortable vortex: worry and discomfort for Rufus and dick-hardening affection for Reno did not make a pleasant brain smoothie, so to speak.

He gave a slow exhale, trying to calm the hyperactive thoughts, when he decided maybe he just needed to distract himself with food. He trotted down the stairs, never one to take the elevator if he could help it, and settled in for a meal at the hotel’s extravagant restaurant. Everything here was expensive, it was no wonder they’d put Rufus here, but sometimes Rude just wanted a bowl of greasy noodles and dark meat.

His plate arrived, an artfully decorated arrangement of mashed starches, poppyseed vinaigrette and golden meat. He was going to need three of these to _start_ feeling full. He took off his gloves—a different pair from the ones he’d half-sullied yesterday. It was pretty, at least, so he took a picture with his phone, and then was inspired: he knew how to distract himself.

Rude  
 _[image attached]  
I miss pizza._

He was sliding a piece of meat through the sauce when his phone lit up.

Reno  
 _Boo hoo asshole, that shit looks great_

Rude  
 _Yes. It tastes good. But I miss pizza. And_ _yakisoba_ _._

Reno  
 _is this cause for emotional distress?_ _do_ _you think I can convince_ _tseng_ _that I should come out there with pizza? I’m very_ _persuasive_

Rude  
 _I know you are. But I don’t think he’s gonna fall for it._

Reno  
 _How could you doubt me??_ _wtf_ _man_

Rude  
 _When was the last time you convinced Tseng to do anything, rather than the other way around?_

Reno  
 _Man you suck_

Rude laughed, pushing the phone away so he could at least focus on eating. The waiter brought him a salad and a frankly oversized charcuterie board, and the sight of it made him almost smile like a child at a dog. God, he did miss pizza, but what was pizza if not bread, cheese and meat?

When he finished, his mind felt at peace, a pleasant hum, and he tucked his gloves back on. He snatched his phone and then, rather than going up to his room, went outside to the patio. He’d spent some time out here before, but it was particularly quiet today: rain had scared most people indoors, and the sound of fat drops on the patio umbrellas was soothing. He sat down, splaying his legs out, and typed out his next message.

Rude  
 _I mean, I do. I will._

Reno  
 _fuck  
you weren’t even just saying that, you actually want to?  
_ _fuuuck_

Rude  
 _Why the hell would I lie about that?_

Reno  
 _shit I don’t know  
I just kind of assumed you’d be uh_

Rude  
 _An ungiving asshole?_

Reno  
 _well when you say it like that_  
 _I mean I’m kinda used to that so I don’t have a problem with it_

Rude  
 _That’s a little sad. You deserve to have your dick sucked. By me._

Reno  
 _are you absolutely sure I couldn’t convince_ _tseng_ _to come out there_

Rude grinned, tucking the phone away. He took in a deep breath. After the rain, the smell of polluted air was much weaker. It hardly rained in Midgar, the atmosphere too screwed up by the constant spewing from the reactors. He’d missed it, and while he had to deal with his sick boss and his distant partner, he could appreciate the small joys like the scent of petrichor.

Two days later, his ‘relief’ arrived: Darkstar.

The irritable hound had been crated up and brought in by a very nervous handler. Rude met him in the lobby. The handler quickly gave Rude the passcode and the wagon carrying the crate, offering a weak salute before taking off. Rude squatted down in front of the crate’s door, and Darkstar’s snarl caused goosebumps to rise on his neck.

He brought him into the elevator. The moment the doors opened, the dog began to whine, Rufus’ sickly scent easily traceable. Rude knocked on Rufus’ door just as a warning. He brought the entire crate in and shut the door behind him.

Rufus was awake, staring at the TV, when the sight and sound of his canine gave him the power to sit straight up. “Is that my boy?”

Rude barely snatched his hand away from the gate after he entered its passcode. The dog bounded over to the bed, whip-like tail wagging a mile a minute as he snuffled under Rufus’ side.

Rude specifically did not look in their direction, though he did catch Rufus’ angry face melt into relief. “Tseng didn’t trust anyone else to look after you,” Rude said quietly.

Rufus barely glanced up. “You’re leaving already, are you?”

“No.” Rude shook his head, placing his hands behind him. “But I have family here, and my duty is to protect you. With Darkstar here…”

“You can leave for more than half an hour,” Rufus finished for him, easing back into a more reclined position. The dog crawled up onto the bed, feet tucked up into his body. It was absurdly protective and kinda cute. “Good. It’s bad enough being cooped up here with no energy.” He finally looked up at Rude, his eyes soft. “Can’t imagine being cooped here full of it.”

Rude looked away, tugging at his tie awkwardly. Rufus let out a soft laugh. “Go. And… give Tseng my regards.”

“Yes, sir,” Rude said with a sharp nod, and then slipped out.

* * *

The visit with his family went well, as long as they strayed from politics. His gruff father had been a former fisherman and resented being moved into hospitality work since the ocean had become too polluted. His doting mother simply worried about him and his job in “security”. But as soon as he’d entered the kitchen, she put him to work peeling and chopping turnips, and the visit turned much more jovial. They asked about his brother, and he gave a noncommittal shrug. The less they knew about Andrea, the better.

He had hugged them both quite hard. It had been years. Sure, they shared phone calls, but it was hard for him to leave the city, and this was the most normal human contact he had gotten in a very long time. His mother boxed up some leftovers, insisting he take it, and he was happy to. His room had a microwave.

After that he’d let himself wander the city. It had changed a lot in a decade. He still knew the ins and outs, but shops had shifted and changed. One of his favorite underground bars was still there, and he shared a long drink with the bartender.

Pleasantly buzzed and with his box of fat dumplings tucked under his arm, Rude made his way to the less savory part of town and bought just two things without saying a word. The bored clerk tucked the items into a brown paper bag, and he put his food on top of them.

When he was finally back to the hotel, he felt drained. He’d spent so much time here and at the hospital that he’d forgotten what it was like to have long conversations where he could let his guard down, or to eat food with no stuffy pretense. He could chase down a perp, swing them around by their ankles into a wall and still do a flip off said wall, but all that socializing had drained him.

He tucked the food into the mini fridge in his kitchenette and stuffed the brown paper bag into the bedside table. He checked on Rufus, merely opening the door a bit to peer in to see him and the dog quietly watching television. Satisfied, he returned to his room and pulled off his gloves, his tie, his jacket. He picked up the phone and dialed Tseng.

“Tseng.”

“Thanks for the good boy,” Rude said, tone close to teasing.

“You wouldn’t believe how weak some of the officers are here,” Tseng said boredly. “They were so scared of a dog.”

“Rufus told me to thank you,” Rude said. “Personally.”

“Oh.” Tseng cleared his throat. “Good.”

Rude raised an eyebrow and squirreled _that_ interaction away for inspection later. 

Tseng’s recovery was quick. “I assume that means you were able to get away?”

“Yes, sir,” Rude said. He was working on the buttons of his shirt. “Freedom for an afternoon. Too much, frankly. I much prefer staying here and worrying.”

“Your tone is not entirely appreciated,” Tseng said, even though Rude could clearly hear repressed amusement.

“Sorry, sir. Everything else is the same. I’ll update you on Rufus’ condition as it changes, though Darkstar’s presence seems to have helped already.”

“Good. I’ll expect a report.” The phone clicked.

Rude sighed, plugging in his phone and bending down to pull out the brown paper bag. Finally, he could have his much needed time alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🚨 smut alert 🚨
> 
> also your comments sustain me and I was a little embarrassed about this ch, had to rewrite some stuff multiple times. them's the breaks I guess. find me on twitter: @MantaWords

Part of Rude’s job was to see who had access to the vice president. While he cut an intimidating silhouette, his low voice and mellow attitude garnered him positive attention from the three medics who attended Rufus: Clera, the night nurse (his favorite), Otis, the apologetic man who brought in the poisonous treatments (his least favorite), and Dr. Kira, who oversaw the treatment. Rude spent the most time with Otis, since he handled most of Rufus’ care both at the hospital and back in his rooms. It wasn’t fair to say that Rude didn’t _like_ him, but the longer he’d been around, the weaker Rufus had been. After his phone call with Tseng, he’d tried to believe in the process, but he still struggled to appreciate what Otis did to his boss. Clera was tough and quiet — the only way to deal with cleaning up after Rufus meant they both had to be stoic and professional about it, after all — and he had discovered she _was_ drinking the scotch left out, at least, after she’d done her job. She usually came back in the morning for any additional needs Rufus had, as well as brought him bland meals that Rufus barely ate. She did what she could with what she had, and Rude had shared a late night drink with her at the hotel’s bar more than once.

It was nice to be able to drink with someone and talk and _not_ worry about his rowdy partner attempting to flirt them to death. Clera seemed just about as interested in Rude as he was in her (that was to say, not at all) and so they made pleasant company.

Dr. Kira did not come to the hotel, but instead requested Rufus come out or communicate over clunky looking tablets with bad reception. Rude assumed this was because the doctor was quite busy and self-assuredly important, but it still left a bad taste in his mouth.

After more than a month of only these three, he was naturally suspicious when a new nurse joined the regimen: Tomun.

Tomun was tall and thin with strawberry blonde hair, and he was absolutely _terrified_ of Rude.

On the latest trip to the hospital, Rude had silently pushed Rufus in a wheelchair to the usual office they met Dr. Kira in. Dr. Kira asked a few basic questions, looking just as disinterested as Rufus sounded. There was a sharp knock at the door.

“Come in,” the doctor said, and Tomun opened the door with a wide smile that instantly melted. Rude could see the color draining from his face. Interesting. “Ah, Tomun. Mr. Shinra, this young man will be your imaging technician. We will need more thorough scans of your body as the growth is devoured.”

Rude did not flinch at the words, but Rufus’ noise of disgust let everyone know just what he thought of the doctor’s bedside manner.

“Ha! Hahh, yeah. I wouldn’t have um, put it that way.” Tomun’s laugh was forced and his eyes were flickering back and forth between Rude and the doctor, a silent but obvious cry for help.

Rude had been suspicious of every medical professional, but this guy? He took the cake. He was amazed the man didn’t have one of those dumb red AVALANCHE bandanas.

The doctor stood up, pushing away from his desk. “That’ll be all for today. If you’ll go with Tomun here, he can get you settled in the machine.” Rude’s hands tightened on the handles of the wheelchair. The leather squeaked dangerously.

Tomun stepped back, holding the door open. He was sweating bullets. Rude pushed Rufus out, cataloguing everything he could about Tomun’s appearance. His scrubs fit him well, too well to hide any firearms, but a knife could be anywhere. Tomun led them down several wide halls and into an area that required a thick keycard. The keycard was damp with Tomun’s nervous sweat. Rude’s eyes narrowed on him.

“If you’ll just help him u-up onto this t-table,” Tomun stammered as he led them into a room with a huge cylindrical chamber. The table he was talking about jutted out from it. Rude would have done what he’d been asked to do with any other nurse, but this one required more finesse.

“I’d like to inspect the room first,” he said gruffly. His gaze, blocked by the sunglasses, was so strong it pushed Tomun up against a wall. He clutched his clipboard to his chest.

“S-sure! It’s a-all suh-state of the art. W-we just use m-magnify materia to—”

“Not interested. Hurry it up, Rude,” Rufus said, irritated and so, so tired.

Rude hummed an affirmative and swept the room, sticking his head into the chamber to see anything potentially unusual. Sticky bombs. Knives. Laser sights. There was nothing. His eye found the one security camera in the corner, taking note. Lastly, he approached Tomun. “Standard pat-down,” he said, and did it before Tomun had a chance to say otherwise.

Tomun squeaked, his entire face going red while his fingers went white around the clipboard.

“Looks clear,” Rude said, and though they were similar in height, Tomun felt like a child. Rude turned around to help Rufus up onto the table and then followed Tomun very closely into the observational area.

“Are you th-this thorough with everyone?” Tomun asked, trying to make light of it. Rude merely grunted, and Tomun’s shaking fingers went to his terminal. He opened up the mic to begin explaining what he was doing, and the longer the process went on, the more calm he became.

Half an hour later, Rude was helping Rufus back into his chair. Nothing had gone awry. Yet.

“Th-thank you! I’ll be sure to study these thoroughly to see how we adjust his m-medication.”

Both Rude and Rufus looked at Tomun like the next words out of his mouth would be his last, so he clamped his thin lips together and waved them off with the most nervous smile Rude had seen in _months_.

Rude pushed Rufus the short distance to the parking lot, easily lifting him into the coach. “You scared the shit out of that idiot,” Rufus wheezed softly, the corner of his mouth tilting up. “I enjoyed that.”

“I’ll be performing a background check tonight,” Rude huffed, folding up the chair and tucking it against the floor before he got in to drive them back to the hotel.

“What could a weak boy like that possibly do to me, Rude?” Rufus stared out the window, soft blonde hair flopping into his face. It had been thinning. “Even as I am.”

“Guess I’ll find out,” Rude grunted.

“Hm.” The sound of trust was unmistakable. Rude liked that. The Turks had worked with the VP before, but it had usually been Tseng and Tseng alone. Convincing Rufus that all the Turks were as capable, deadly and thorough was a task well worth his time.

The background check had turned into a bit of _light_ stalking, but in the end, Tomun had seemed even more harmless than before. He was in some kind of board game club and had enough food allergies that Rude knew it would be pretty hard to be an assassin when he couldn’t even eat an egg or noodles.

All during this time, Reno texted him.

After Rude’s personal purchase on his day off — an enormous bottle of lube and an obscenely named ‘marital aide’ — he’d spent more time taking the edge off. When Reno had started to flirt with him, he’d change the subject. He didn’t outright deny him: no “Not right now, I’m busy” messages. But he had been very good at carefully shifting conversations away from fucking and sucking, and instead he baited out Reno’s ire and enthusiasm. _Tell me about what Elena did today_ kinds of messages. _Now that I think about it, pizza is overrated_. _I’m dying for a good crime novel._ _Have you heard of_ _kupo_ _nut_ _tea?_

Occasionally in the middle of the night, Reno would send him lewd photos. When he was awake, usually elbows deep in work (researching and security), he stared, loosened his tie so he could breathe, and then turned the phone over, ignoring it. When he slept, he was met with the picture in the hazy fog of morning sleepiness. That was his preferred way to receive them. Off the clock, he could enjoy stroking himself at the sight, letting his mind empty other than that familiar voice to go along with the pictures. That was usually when he sent a photo in response, stomach and chest speckled with the aftermath, cock wet and at rest. That usually kept Reno sated and quiet for a while.

It had officially been three months since he’d come to Junon when he realized that just wasn’t gonna cut it anymore. 

Rufus’ recovery was happening, albeit slowly. He’d been more interested in conversation, and as his energy returned, he wanted to get up and go on walks. Rude accompanied him, but it was exhausting. Rufus constantly pushed himself too hard, and furiously lashed out if he fell against a wall or stumbled, fighting Rude who supported him with a solid arm or hip. Rufus’ body was improving, but his mood had been getting nastier. That day had been particularly draining, with Rufus smashing a (thankfully clean) bedpan at the wall next to Rude’s head followed by a roar of “ _GET OUT._ ”

Rude wanted a good distraction, a _real_ good one, but was too mad to get to it immediately. He changed into compression leggings and tank top and spent an hour running on a hotel treadmill until the rage churning around his head evaporated. The shower afterward had been hot and thorough, squeezing his own neck and shoulders, probing around his own sensitive areas to clean up.

It was dark, and he finally felt loose and warm. He picked up the phone.

Rude  
_Guess what I have._

_* * *_

Reno  
_I dunno, what?_

Rude  
_You have to guess._

Reno  
_are you_ _fuckin_ _kidding me partner_

Rude  
_Nope._

Reno  
_a boner_

Rude  
_Nope. Not yet, anyway._

Reno shot up off the couch. He almost panicked. Rude was not redirecting the conversation. It had been weeks, _weeks_ since he’d had proper interaction with him. Early morning pictures were good, but nothing compared to the rush of getting to actually flirt with him.

Reno  
_ooh. promising.  
__is_ _it boring_

Rude  
_No._

Reno  
_is it sexy_

Rude  
_Yes._

Reno  
_a dildo lol_

Rude  
_Nope._

Reno  
_man I give up!_ _tell_ _me!!_

Rude  
_Hm. No._

Reno glared at his phone. He was already half-hard just at this dumb conversation. He had been lazing around at home with yesterday’s takeout, attempting to bring himself down from his constant state of being wound up. Elena had been a lot of work. He had bruises and burns from some smaller missions with her from the experimental bombs. He also had bruises from when she’d punch him on the shoulder without keeping anything back. He kept from flinching, but the absolute shiners that blossomed from her attacks were nothing to scoff at. He’d also been avoiding the whole ‘check on the Ancient’ thing Tseng was normally very adamant about. He’d been forgetful lately, preoccupied on something else. It made for less irritation from nosey girls, but more work, and Reno never got any real rest & recreation in.

Now, with Rude here and making him horny, he had one trick up his sleeve and one hope left. He prayed Rude answered when he called him.

He did.

Reno was gonna have to go to Aerith’s church and thank some gods.

“Calling me feels like cheating at the game,” Rude said, his voice deep and teasing. Reno was slightly ashamed to admit that voice alone got him fully hard.

“Excuse you, your majesty. I’m not gonna sit here and type, playin’ Guess Who. I’ve been working all day, you should try it sometime.”

“Working on what? Your attitude?” Rude rumbled. Reno did not unbutton his pants. But his fingertips were tracing over the prominent line of his cock through the fabric. 

Reno laughed, shutting his eyes. Thrills were tickling up his spine. “Can I have a hint?”

“It’s my favorite color.”

“So, black.”

“Red.”

Reno snorted. “Liar.” That tickling feeling bloomed into desire at the admission, though. His fingers settled at the base of his dick, wrapping around it.

“That’s the only hint you’re gonna get. Keep —mh. Keep trying.”

Reno’s ears perked, cupping himself a little harder. “That sounded good. Is it something you can use?”

“Uh-huh.”

Reno’s tongue dashed out to lick his bottom lip. He was picturing Rude now: no sunglasses so he could see those deep amber eyes, perfectly trimmed beard, naked. Hard. “Huhhh. Can you use it while you fuck me?”

He heard Rude’s breath hitch. “Hadn’t thought of that,” he whispered, and then, “Yeah. I definitely could.”

“Cock ring?”

“No.”

Reno had sufficiently teased himself, finally popping the button and zipper open. His hand slid around his cock, thumb swiping over the head. He hummed out a moan. “You’re turnin’ me on like crazy,” he huffed.

“Good,” Rude said, and there was that hitching again. He’d already ruled out a dildo, but in a flash of inspiration, Reno knew.

“Are you using it right now?”

“Working up to it,” Rude panted.

“Motherfucker,” Reno hissed, shutting his eyes tightly. The mental image changed, picturing Rude with two of those long fingers in his own ass. “You bought a red butt plug.”

“Finally,” Rude laughed, and then Reno could hear him biting off a moan. Like he’d waited until Reno to guess before he let it slide in. Holy shit. His hand started to move faster.

“Do they know that’s what you’re doing in your spare time?”

“Do they know what _you_ do in your spare time, a-asshole?”

“Listen to you,” Reno whispered obscenely, ignoring the question. “Bet you had to get it nice and slick. It’s deep in you, huh. Did you make your cock all wet, too?”

“Yeah,” Rude breathed. Reno had to let go of himself so the room fell into total silence, straining to listen to every noise coming from the phone. That way it was easier to hear the wet _schlick_ of Rude’s hand. He could picture him flexing around the plug and he had to let go of his dick.

“That sounds so hot,” Reno hissed, and finally looked around the room for something he could use for lube of his own. He failed, but he wasn’t going to give up. He stood up and awkwardly waddled into his bedroom. Rude didn’t have a fake dick, but Reno sure as fuck did, not that he’d ever needed it this bad before. “You know I’m dyin’ to sit on that slick cock, right?”

“Is that right, partner?” Rude’s voice had a strange tint to it, smug and shy all at once. It caught Reno a little off guard, and he moaned, falling into his bed and frantically kicking his goddamn pants off.

“ _Fuck_ I need more hands,” Reno hissed, but the noise of his bottle of lube popping open was loud enough to carry. He used his last functioning brain cell to turn the phone to speaker before he slid one finger into his hole, tipping his hips back. He didn’t let himself touch his dick again, afraid it’d be over too soon. It sure had been the last time they tried this remotely.

“Two more hands would probably do it, mm?” Rude teased. The slippery sounds continued, and Reno didn’t even try to hide the moan this time, now hooking two fingers inside. It was the ultimate frustration to try to relax when he was this wound up.

“Shaddup, dickhead,” Reno slurred jovially, and then rolled himself over, pushing up to his knees. The toy wasn’t even as big as Rude, which was just another tick on his list of sexy irritations that were one hundred percent Rude’s fault. He squirted more lube onto it, a dark purple, evil-looking thing covered in ridges, and then let himself slowly sink onto it, inch by inch. His breath became unsteady. “I just want you to fuck me and I’m—uhn—stuck with fucking my _self_.”

“Shit, I want to see that,” Rude moaned. “Is it bigger than me?” How was it fair that the only time Rude had been this talkative was during phone sex?

“No, you big-dicked motherfucker,” Reno complained, annoyed that he had to put a hand at the base of the thing to keep it from moving while he moved up and down. His other hand grasped his cock, and he choked out a groan. “Didn’t even know they made ‘em that size, _fuck_.” The toy was almost an insult to him as he tried to picture riding Rude’s lap, Rude’s hips twitching desperately since every thrust down from Reno would push the plug hard into Rude’s soft spots.

“God I wish I could have fucked you,” Rude said, and Reno could hear that tinge of madness in his voice, like he was barely holding on. “Imagining it is n-not the same.”

“I know, but I’ll help.” Reno was shameless, leaning forward so that he was on one elbow. He’d managed to set the fake dick just right, so that every movement of his hips pushed it back down against the bed. That freed up a hand to balance himself; it also put him closer to the phone as he stroked his unbearably hard cock faster. “I’m tight,” Reno said, and found himself laughing at his own pompous boasting. “You’ll have to spend so long stretching me out I bet you’d come in— _ah_! Ten fuckin’ seconds.”

“That a challenge?” Rude growled, and the wet sounds of him stroking his cock had grown so fast that Reno was just trying to hold off now. His eyes crossed, and he shut them.

“And a… proposition… Fuck, fuck, _Rude_ ,” he gasped, slamming back on the toy to the base as he desperately stroked himself. He heard Rude swear, somewhere in the back of his mind, but all he could do was moan and come, grinding back for more pressure on his prostate. God, he wanted to feel Rude come inside him, but this at least filled a more literal hole. He was panting heavily, drool slipping past his lips, when he looked at his phone.

Fuck, he’d jizzed on it.

He started laughing, and it turned into hiccups as he gingerly pulled the silicon item out. The emptiness was a relief. He only really wanted to keep something flesh and blood up there, the intimate connection the best part.

Rude sounded as wrecked as Reno felt. “Was that sound what I thought it was?”

“You mean my coming in general,” he chuffed, “or actually splatting my fucking phone?”

“Second one,” Rude said, seeming awed. “Hot.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Reno hiccupped, burying his face into the blanket. “Is Rufus done with rehab yet or _whaaat_.”

Rude was quiet a moment, though Reno could hear him shifting around, possibly cleaning himself off. Rude sounded distant when he said, “He’s been sick.”

“Eh?” Reno’s brain was clouded, and the strangeness in Rude’s voice wasn’t helping him. “Whaddya mean, like withdrawals?”

“Fuck,” Rude muttered. Reno heard a thump, like Rude’s head falling back against a pillow. Reno let himself imagine fucking Rude in a fancy hotel bed, and a residual tingle of desire coiled in his gut. “You’re not s’posed to know. But no, actually sick. He’s been getting some kind of experimental, Hojo-free treatment. Doesn’t have a drug problem. Fuckin’ attitude problem, maybe.”

Reno blinked sleepily. “Why the fuck does everyone think he’s out at rehab or in jail or something?”

“They’d rather people assume that. The Shinras have a weird thing about being seen as weak,” Rude hummed.

“Yeah… I guess I’d noticed. Guess addiction doesn’t count as weakness. Sick, huh.” He picked up his phone and made a disgusted face as he wiped it off on his comforter. Now he was gonna have to wash the damn blanket, too. Maybe he’d just buy a new one and throw this one away, that seemed easier to his cum-addled mind. The phone was fine, if hot since it had been on a speakerphone call for a while. “So that’s the real reason they wanted someone of _your_ ‘temperament’ and not my ‘kick your ass’ one.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine I’d succeed with keeping him in rehab,” Rude said softly. “It was difficult to see him like this. He’s always been such a hardass.”

“Don’t go sympathizing with the devil,” Reno said, turning off the speaker and then holding the phone to his ear. The warmth on his cheek was all he was going to get, so he’d take it. “Would he give any of us the time of day?”

“Tseng, maybe,” Rude said, and then muttered ‘shit’ like he shouldn’t have let that slip. “But otherwise, no. He’s been an absolute shit heel lately.”

Reno grinned. “So you called me to make yourself feel better about the veep hurting your feelings.”

“Something like that,” Rude chuckled, and the warmth in Reno’s cheeks was _definitely_ from the phone. Not affection. “I’m gonna go take this out. We’ll have to chat later.”

“You’re still wearing the plug,” Reno said, throwing an arm over his eyes. He laughed out a moan. “Fuck. I didn’t even get a picture.”

Rude made a thoughtful noise. “Honestly, I’m not limber enough to take a shot of it. Sorry.”

“I don’t know, I’ve seen how flexible you can be.”

Rude was laughing softly. “Good night, Reno.”

“Bye, I guess.” Reno frowned a little when they ended the call. He shoved both the toy and the blanket off the bed, spreading his limbs out as he stared up at the ceiling.

He didn’t want to think about what it was he had, but whatever it was? He had it bad.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your sweet comments! We're moving into a bit of different territory from here...

In the privacy of his back office, Tseng allowed himself to worry at his lips, teeth nipping at them subconsciously. Things were not lining up as they should have been, and it sent a nervous wave through his guts. He hadn’t had a flash of fear-induced nausea in years. Decades, even. He was not a child, or even a normal man. He was a Turk, with the weight of the company on his shoulders.

He had sent Reno and Elena out on many small fact-finding missions. Some were more or less patrols which he struggled to gain proper information from; Reno was his most ruthless and talented agent, but his paperwork was close to nonexistent, and while Elena was happy to fill out forms, she tended to ramble on like they were journal entries. The first time she had mentioned petting a dog, he’d gotten a sort of grim amusement out of it. The third time, he’d pulled Reno aside to talk to her about it. There were still mentions of dogs in her reports, each time causing his eyebrows to twitch angrily. He was afraid he would develop a tic.

The important missions were infiltrations, and Elena had been much more serious. They smoked out operatives, but less and less were AVALANCHE related. It was as though they had _better_ things to do than throw molotov cocktails at Shinra checkpoints or climb to the top of guard towers and plant their pedestrian little flags.

That was what made him apprehensive. He’d rolled that archaic white board into his office and had begun to write on it when a wave of roiling paranoia made him not want to write anything down. Who could be looking at security footage?

It had come to the point where he’d requested a meeting with Heidegger and locking any hand-written notes in his desk.

Putting on a stoic face, he entered Heidegger’s lavish and tacky office. Everywhere Tseng went he had an air of importance, but it was especially important to push that effect around Heidegger. He was a force of nature, huge and built like a reactor himself, and the only way to get his attention was to exert power.

Tseng’s power was cool. Sly. He was a viper, and most did not cross him for fear of succumbing to that venom. Heidegger seemed immune.

Heidegger sat in an over-sized chair — the only kind that would fit his hulking frame — with his fingers knotted over his belly. He was grizzled and leathery, yet in his tailored uniform he struck the perfect image of a powerful general. Tseng’s spine was ramrod straight, gazing down at him with hard eyes. This was his only measure of power now, a bit of height, but he would work with what he had.

“I believe AVALANCHE is plotting something large. My Turks have been thoroughly searching the sectors to smoke out anything of consequence, and it has been unusually quiet.”

One scarred, sculpted eyebrow rose. “And?”

“There were several old depots that had been former AVALANCHE safe houses. Most were abandoned, but several had traces of toxic chemicals that were unfamiliar to us, and one in particular had the remnants of an on-site laboratory—”

“So you’re spooked over an empty building with mystery sludge in it?” Heidegger sounded bored. “That’s hardly a lead, much less enough for a _hunch_.”

“Director, if you’ll pardon my bluntness, it is simply irresponsible to ignore the possibility of AVALANCHE working on biological weapons.”

There was a pregnant pause. Tseng’s delicate fingers clenched. Then, Heidegger threw his head back and laughed. It was not amicable. It was the room-shaking _Gya-ha-ha_ that lacked decorum and irritated Tseng down to his bones. “That will be all,” Heidegger said, waving Tseng away with a dismissive wrist flick.

Tseng was nothing if not an immaculate professional. He gave one respectful nod before exiting the room, only allowing his eyes to flash with anger when he was sure he was clear of any bystanders.

Tseng stepped into the empty Turks office and finally exhaled through gritted teeth, allowing him this one moment of judgment: “Rat _bastard_.”

If Heidegger wasn’t going to take it seriously, it would be hard to get the resources to investigate. He was a fish out of water; Rufus was out of his grasp with the protection of one soft-hearted bodyguard and a dog. He felt a cold bolt shiver through his chest. He had given Rufus a gift before they had left, a necklace. Rufus had been too weak to mock him for it. Tseng simply closed the strange, small chain in Rufus’ fingers and said, “Please wear this, Mr. Vice President.”

It would be his only hope that he would. It had been very private; no one had seen the exchange. That morning Rude had been very distracted, and no one else gave the vice president the time of day. That, too, irritated Tseng.

He closed his eyes and inhaled. His feet slowly spread, allowing his hands to do a few simple movements. Meditative. He exhaled, opened his eyes.

Reno was in front of him.

Tseng did _not_ jump and make a sound, no matter what Reno insisted later.

“You alright, boss?”

“Perfectly, Reno,” Tseng said, aloof as he walked back to his desk. “You caught me unaware.”

“Tai chi?” Reno asked, no judgment in his voice.

Tseng inclined his head, fingers caressing the edge of his desk. “You’re familiar?”

“Tsch, yeah,” Reno said, stretching his arms above his head and then bending them at the elbows. “When I first started they told me I had ‘anger issues’, can ya believe it? Anyway, they had one of those _perfectly voluntary_ requests for me to join a tai chi class.” Reno laughed. “It was mandatory. It’s not really my style. I got other ways of calming down.”

“Ah yes, with such great hits as ‘getting more mad’. I’ve seen that one. Not the best technique,” Tseng hummed.

Reno tossed his hands down, letting a crooked smile cross his face. “What’s got you in such a weird mood, boss?”

“It’s nothing.” Tseng sat down at his chair, though he glanced briefly at the door behind his desk, to where his private office was. “I think.”

Reno shrugged, sitting down on what had been Rude’s desk. “So uh…”

“Yes?”

“Elena is running through her gun certifications,” Reno said, looking at his nails and picking at the dirt under them. “I was thinking I could go out on my own, for once.”

Tseng looked at him oddly. “And do what, pray tell?”

“Check on the Ancient.”

Tseng looked like he’d been slapped for a moment. “Ah.” His expression recovered, but Reno had seen it, and known Tseng had forgotten about her. And if he had forgotten about Aerith for that long? Whatever was bothering him was _not_ ‘nothing’. “Yes. Do it. And this time I want an actual report from you. No excuses. We normally don’t go this long without contact.”

Reno gave him an easy grin as he slid off the desk. He turned towards the door, raising one hand’s thumb and pointer finger. “You got it, boss.”

When the office was empty, Tseng loosened his tie a smidge and began to re-read reports for the hundredth time, hoping to see something he had overlooked before.

* * *

It was still early, midday, so Reno went to the church. He did owe some old gods some prayers, if he recalled. The doors were propped open, and as he stepped over the threshold several pigeons flapped clumsily from the door’s top to the rafters. The noise was enough to startle Aerith, who kneeled in prayer in front of her flowers. Reno took in a deep breath through his nose: dust and flowers. He did miss the smell.

Reno carried the mag rod with him everywhere. It was a good intimidation tool, but also just a useful prop. In front of her like this, after their last rather personal conversation, he felt awkward. He needed something to fiddle with. He held the rod over his shoulders like a particularly short pool cue. “What’s there worthwhile to pray to?” His voice came out quieter than he’d intended.

Aerith stayed kneeling, though the stiff line of her shoulders relaxed when she heard who it was. “The Planet,” she said. “This is one of the few places I find it quiet enough to listen.” She turned her head then, showing the profile of her face. “Where’ve you been, then?” Her clasped hands dropped from her chest, awkwardly attempting to stand up.

Reno didn’t know why, but it was his first instinct to walk up to her and offer a hand. She took it as she pulled herself up and then dusted off her knees. The gesture was familiar, cute even. He ran his hand through his hair, still clutching the rod in his other hand. “You’re not priority number one, yo.”

“So, is Mr. Rude really not coming back to see mom and me, then?” Her tone of voice was light and teasing, but had and undercurrent of sadness that felt like a kick to the shins. Why the hell would Reno give a crap if the annoying Sector 5 witch felt sad?

“He’s got other duties,” Reno said casually. “Hey, why do you give him the whole ‘mister’ routine? Where’s my respect, huh?” He puffed his chest out. “I outrank him, y’know.”

“I’d ask how, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by how Shinra works,” Aerith said, rolling her eyes. She really knew how to rock that impertinence, Reno thought, but still made it adorable.

“Question dodger,” Reno said, pointing at her nose with the rod.

“Mr. Rude earned it by being a nice and helpful gentleman,” she said, rocking back on her heels in those chunky boots. “You just called me flower girl and harassed me for selling flowers to drunk people. And now you’re pointing a weapon at me.”

Reno’s eyes narrowed at her, and then he laughed, turning away. Both his hands dropped, tucking the rod’s strap around his wrist rather than swinging it around. “I’d say you were _extorting_ the drunks, but… When you’re right, you’re right,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He scuffed his shoe on the stone tiles. “How’s your ma?”

“Fine, thank you very much,” she said. She bent down to pick up her staff. “Why don’t you walk me home? It’s a bit of a stroll.”

“Ehhh…” Reno watched her approach him and then rolled his eyes. “Fine. But only to prove I’m _totally_ on the same level as Rude, gentleman wise. Other than the light bulbs thing. Still not gonna do that.”

Aerith giggled, and to Reno’s surprise and chagrin, she hooked her arm into his. “Gotta leave something for Mr. Rude to do when he comes back.”

“Tsch.” Reno decided looking straight ahead was a much better idea as they left the church, arm in arm. He had to think fast on how to make this work for him. Aerith was well known within the slums here, with her tendency to be a little do-gooder. It could make her a potential target for dumbass bandits. If there were rumors not _only_ that she had a SOLDIER boyfriend, but that she was protected _intimately_ by the Turks as well, that was only securing her safety further, right?

A proper story made up in his mind, he took to holding her elbow like a champ. “So, how’s your _boy_ friend?” he teased.

“How’s yours?” she replied.

He didn’t miss a beat, even if his heart may have. “I asked first.”

“He’s fine, I mean. Probably. He’s busy, a lot. Training and strange duties he won’t talk to me about.” She sounded like she had been trying to decide how to feel about it, and it was always borderline sad. To be fair, in his experience she teetered between “sad and omniscient” and “terrifyingly manic and joyful” and struggled to find a happy medium. It was weird and had a kind of mystery that Reno was itching to know more about.

Unfortunately, that meant making friends with her, and that wasn’t really on his agenda — arm in arm or not.

“He’s doing good work, wherever he is,” Reno said. “It’s what we do.”

“Him maybe, but you?” Aerith said, giving him a knowing smile. “I bet you like knocking teeth out.”

“It does make a particularly satisfying sound,” Reno joked.

“Gross,” she teased. “Anyway, tell me about Mr. Rude.”

“He’s in good hands.”

“Yours?”

“I wish,” he muttered, and then laughed it off. “I mean, he might as well be.”

She turned to look at him, squinting those huge green eyes. Her tone was positively salacious. “You sexted him, didn’t you.”

“God, I _hate_ how you can do that,” Reno shivered.

“Ha! Yes!” Aerith pulled her free hand to her chest in a fist pump. “So you kissed and made up?”

“Not exactly.”

“Ew, don’t be gross,” Aerith cringed.

“Don’t take it that way!” Reno said, tugging on her arm a bit. “It’s more that I haven’t touched him in months, so there’s no ‘kiss and make up’ to be had, kiddo.”

“He’s not in the city?” Aerith wondered, and Reno cursed himself for giving away too much, again. The witch and her wiles. “No wonder he hasn’t been by. I hope he’s okay.”

“He’s a big boy and can take care of himself.” Reno nodded resolutely. They passed the train station and several food stalls. He’d glanced at them, but Aerith didn’t seem to be interested. “He’s a very big boy, actually—”

“ _I will hit you with this stick, Reno_!” she warned, and she was so full of purpose that it shocked a genuine belly laugh out of him. 

“Jeez, I was tryin’ to get a rise out of you, not get my ass beat,” he chirped, and rather than hit him with her staff, she tucked it under her armpit so she could swat his bare chest with a _smack!_

“Those are the same thing, _mister_ ,” Aerith chided.

“You’re scarier than you look,” he said, and sounded very impressed, because he _kind of was._

“Darn tootin’,” she giggled.

The mere fact that two words could embarrass him made Reno realize that not only was she scary, she was the epitome of a pro. No wonder Rude had bent over backwards to _clean her gutters_ or whatever else she’d gotten him to do. She had the power of persuasion rarely found in non-politicians. That, at least, was something worth holding on to for the sake of manipulating his enemies.

They walked in silence for a bit before she stopped, tugging on Reno’s elbow with almost a claw grip. “Watch the suit, kid,” he scoffed, and she pointed up with her staff. There, in the deserted street, were two venomantises. Their grotesque bodies were half bent, long spindly claws digging through rubble and trash.

Reno freed his arm, EMR in his right hand in an instant. He stepped forward with his right leg and arm in a bid to protect Aerith. “Get back,” he growled. “You walk this way home every damn day? The hell?”

“I can take care of myself!” Aerith said, but didn’t push forward. “Well, most of the time.” Her hands spread on the staff, booted feet moving into a defensive stance.

“Tsch! This is not what I should be spending my valuable time doing!”

Their voices caught the interest of the two beasts. They lunged forward, disturbing lower halves squelching forward with a burst of momentum. Reno leapt at one to knock it across the head. An arc of electricity exploded to the other venomantis. He dashed to the side, causing enough of a distraction for Aerith to back away. He’d glanced at her long enough to see her do some kind of twirling move with the stick, but was knocked into a concrete slab.

The venomantis shrieked, letting loose its sickle-like claws. Reno was able to move just in time to see the claw embed itself in the concrete next to his head. Like this, his mind was clear. There was no room for panic, only irritation that bled into rage. He dropped down, rolling to the side as he bounced back and forth between the two oversized bugs, causing an explosion of hits that erupted over their chitonous bodies. He landed back near Aerith, pulling one hand in to his chest to focus before enveloping one mantis in an enormous transparent pyramid, while Aerith managed to cause a veritable iceberg to fall down on the opposite monster.

One dead, one frozen in time, Reno let his mind catch up to what had happened. He looked at his feet and saw the strange lifted markings in a floral design, and Aerith’s sweaty but determined face. He inspected her, and then saw the glow of two materia in her chunky metal bracelets.

“Full of surprises, ain’tcha?” Reno heaved. She caught his eye and made a quiet ‘hm!’ of resolution. He rolled his eyes, snatching her arm. “Let’s get out of here. Can’t believe you just _walk through_ this place!”

They dashed past, only slowing down when they’d turned a corner and saw normal people shambling about their daily business.

Reno let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Whew. Thanks!” Aerith said. “Normally if I see something like that I have to take a real long route to get home. Or worse, climb around it.”

“‘Normally’?” Reno asked, eyebrows twitching. “Sis, you _better_ not tell me that’s a _normal occurrence._ That shit ain’t safe!”

Aerith shrugged. “Told you, I can take care of myself.” She looked a little sheepish as she slid her arm back around his, and he made a soft noise of disgust, but allowed it. “You gotta be tough, growing up here.”

“If Tseng hears word of this, he’s just gonna airlift you, your ma and your whole goddamn house out of here,” Reno grumbled, glancing down at his suit pants. They were completely trashed with concrete dust, dirt, and venom. What a waste.

“Well, don’t tell him then!”

“If I show up at HQ looking like this…”

“Then embellish,” she challenged. “Just tell him it was a fluke. For all you know, it was, and I’m a very good liar.” Her beaming smile was disarming. Reno felt that mad embarrassment tingling at the back of his chest again.

“You’re lucky you’re important,” Reno grumbled as they made their way into the more populated area of the slums. “Otherwise I would have drop-kicked you off the plate _years_ ago.”

“Aw, you never bothered to get to know me back then. You woulda loved me back then, too.” Her giggle was infectious, so he looked away, feigning irritation.

The rest of the walk was in the kind of companionable silence that Reno had not had with anyone but Rude. He hated having to examine the feelings of protection that had surged in him earlier. His whole job was to keep the Ancient safe, there wasn’t any reason to think ‘Why did I protect her?’, and yet there he was. Besides his job, he wasn’t sure what would happen if Rude had found out he’d let her get hurt in any way, even if it had been nonpermanent.

“Quit scowling,” Aerith prodded him with a gentle elbow. She opened her front door, and he realized just how oblivious he had been. They were already there? “Hi mom!”

“Evening honey—oh! Oh my! What happened to you!?” Elmyra stepped out of the kitchen, one tea towel in her hand as she rushed up. Reno looked like something the cat drag in, but Elmyra’s attention was only on her daughter. She clutched Aerith’s face in her hands, looking for wear and tear and only found bits of dust. Reno felt slighted. He chose not to investigate that feeling, either.

“Reno walked me home from the church, and we ran into some baddies,” Aerith said. “He took care of them both, though.”

He looked at her, one eyebrow lifting, and then played along. “Yup. She hid to safety while I stomped some bugs.” Reno folded his arms with a shrug. “No big deal.”

Elmyra’s worried face changed a bit as she looked at Reno: she was scrutinizing him. Thankfully she had none of Aerith’s terrifying prowess, and she seemed satisfied after a cursory glance. “Well, thank you, Reno. Would you like to stay for dinner? Or even a cup of tea?”

“Oh, I’d better be headed b—”

“Of course you’ll stay!” Aerith said, and pulled him into a chair. He sat with his mouth hanging open. “We have enough, right mom?”

Elmyra closed her eyes with a smile, and then retreated to the kitchen.

“You’re a devil woman,” Reno said through gritted teeth. Aerith slapped him on the back.

“Start earning that ‘mister’, Reno,” she teased, and she brought him a cup of tea in a hideous moogle mug.


	8. Chapter 8

A  
_I_ _dunno where you are, but I hope you’re okay!_  
_Reno saved me from some monsters today! He’s not so bad. Too grouchy, though._  
_Not like you._

Rude had settled into the window seat of Rufus’ hotel room with a ream of paper reports, a late-night cup of coffee, and Darkstar seated awkwardly on his feet. Rufus was pacing back and forth but with slow, measured steps. Every five minutes he sat down on the edge of the bed, irritated at his sluggish progress, and then got back up again. Rufus did not _want_ Rude crowding his personal space, but his assumed body guard had received a simple text that morning: _Don’t let him out of your sight._

Half way through the reports his phone buzzed. When he saw who it was from, he nearly kicked the dog — but, valuing his body parts, he stayed still. He read Aerith’s texts twice, a happy warmth settling in his chest.

Rude  
_Where were there monsters?_

A  
_On_ _the way home from the church. It’s not unusual! Though normally it’s not_ _venomantises_ _._

Rude was always glad he wore sunglasses to hide his expression, but never more than in that moment. The last thing he needed was Rufus asking why his eyes were bugging out of his head.

Rude  
_Venomantises_ _? Plural? Are you alright?_

A  
_Like_ _I said! Reno was a champ. Mom made him stay for dinner._

Rude  
_You sure that wasn’t you?_

A  
_I_ _may have had a hand in it…_ 😇

Rude  
_You truly are_ _powerful_ _, young lady._

A  
_See, this is why I call you Mister Rude. Reno has begun his quest to get that honorific._

Rude  
_I’d like to see him try._

“What in Ifrit’s twelve _hells_ are you prattling on about over there!?” Rufus shouted. “Is that all you do in your room all day, text like a teenage girl?” Rude looked up, seeing Rufus gazing at him as Rude’s thumbs abruptly came to a halt. Had he been typing that much? Oops.

He cleared his throat, pocketing the phone. “Sorry sir. You know how chatty Reno can be.”

Rufus’s glare weakened, his legs shook, and he sat down for a final time with a huff on the edge of the bed. “I just want to get out of here,” he uttered, and Rude knew that was as much of an apology as he was going to get.

“Mm. Me too, sir.” Rude shifted his feet enough that Darkstar gave a tiny whine and kicked off of the seat, moving over to his preferred owner. “How do you feel?”

“Tired!” Rufus snapped. He put his hand over his face, exhaling a shuddery breath. “Better. Whatever the hell they put me through before was, it’s paying off. But I’m… Tired.” His elbows shifted onto his knees, and the dog hopped up onto the bed to stick his face in the triangle between his arm and chest. “Ready to be done. Home. Out of this backwater hole and back where I belong. And I want a goddamn _drink_.”

Rude didn’t comment. He gazed at Rufus critically: his hair had stopped thinning, and he was starting to fill out his shirts again. This one was only half buttoned, and a thin silver chain was visible around his neck. His pants were satiny and striped, pajamas not to be worn outside of the room. Rufus worked hard to gain his strength back but was realistic. He knew he was fragile and was working to fix the problem, but knowing he was helpless made him agitated. Rude was used to Rufus taking out his anger on him, but Rude hadn’t had to spend this much time with him non-stop before. It was grating _and_ explained a lot, all at once.

“Why is it Tseng wanted you to shadow me, now of all times?” Rufus finally asked.

“Didn’t say, but orders are orders,” Rude said softly.

“Am I not a more senior official than Tseng?” Rufus asked and then looked up. “I order you to give me a moment’s peace.”

The corner of Rude’s mouth twitched upward. “Sir…”

“I mean it,” Rufus said. “Get out of here. Go get the drink I’m not allowed to have. I’m just sick and tired.” Rufus fell back on the bed. “…of looking at your bald head.”

Rude snorted, shaking his head with a laugh. “Fine,” he agreed, and stopped over at the bed. “But if you so much as hear a leaf tap that window…”

“Yes, I know. I’ll call you for help, like the damsel I’ve become.” Rufus frowned in disgust.

“Sir,” Rude said, finalized with a deep bow, and left the room. It was sad, really, to feel a thrill of disobeying orders as he stepped towards the stairwell. Tseng’s boss’s boss had just given him a new order, after all. It still _felt_ like disobeying, which was kind of fun.

He sighed. Very sad.

When he sauntered into the hotel bar, he saw one other person seated at the bar, and his already good mood improved: Clera. Her short brown hair was messily spiked up, and her scrubs of choice today were covered in tiny different colored chocobos. She was hunched over the bar, nursing a cheap beer. He sat down next to her, gesturing at the bartender.

“You look upbeat,” Rude murmured. He ordered the same beer that she had.

Clera looked up, hazel eyes taking a long moment to focus on him. “Hi, Rude,” she said with a sigh. “Just been a long day, and I still have to go deal with your pain in the ass boss.”

“Well, lucky for you,” Rude said, picking up the bottle as it was placed in front of him, “he’s in an _extra_ terrible mood tonight.”

“Oh _good_.” Clera rolled her eyes. “Buy me another beer, then.”

He did.

“What’s got you so positive?” Rude asked. The fresh bottle of beer landed in front of Clera. She tipped her current bottle up, chugging the rest of it, so that she could start in on the new one.

“Just a rough shift. Losing people never gets easier.”

Rude grunted an affirmation. There was nothing he could say to that that would mean anything, so instead they sat together in silence and drank.

“Your line of work, you ever lost a person?” Clera asked, looking at the TV above the bar. There was some news reel on about a new Shinra initiative, a story about a cute young girl sending letters to Wutai War veterans, and a short piece about the latest failed AVALANCHE raid. Her expression seemed desensitized.

“Once,” Rude said. He didn’t want to watch the news, so instead he focused on peeling the label off of his bottle. “It was my fault.”

“Mine too,” Clera said, voice cracking. Then she laughed, shoving a hand into her face. “I don’t know why I’m talking with you about this.”

Rude shrugged. “We don’t have to.”

“Then let’s not,” she said. She pointed at the TV, voice carrying to the bartender. “Hey, can you change the channel? Aren’t there races on, or something?”

The disinterested bartender shrugged, tossing the remote over to them, and Clera took it gratefully. It wasn’t hard to find a scratchy feed of races from the Gold Saucer. She dropped the remote with a clatter on the bar. “You ever wonder why they make the tracks look like a damn drug trip?” she asked.

“Otherwise it’s a bunch of stunted strangers on big chickens,” Rude said mildly. “Have to keep our interest somehow.”

Clera laughed bitterly, shaking her head. She toyed with the lip of the bottle, and her laugh changed into something milder. “You’re not a bad guy, Rude,” she said softly.

“Didn’t think I was,” he said.

“Don’t you?” She finished her second beer before Rude had even gotten halfway through his first. “I had better go check on that big baby upstairs. Thanks for the drink.”

He saluted her with the bottle, not bothering to watch the race. He finished his drink, left gil on the bar, and headed back up to their rooms. Clera was just closing the door from Rufus’ room as he approached. She gave him a shrug and a wave and left without another word.

He did like her no-frills attitude, after all.

He peered in on Rufus, who had one arm tossed over his head. “I’m _fine_ ,” he groused at the sound of the door opening.

“Good night, sir,” Rude said, and retired to his own bed.

He fell asleep wondering: did he think he was a bad guy?

* * *

Despite Rufus’ improving health, he still sat in a wheelchair when Rude took him to the clinic. He could walk with no problem for about ten minutes, but any longer than that and he’d slip. Rufus could handle the Turk seeing him this way — what secrets did he have from him at this point? — but the normal people here couldn’t see just _how_ soft he had become.

Dr. Kira was saying something about large improvements and maybe just another month left before the physical rehabilitation would start, and Rufus was clawing at his armrests in irritation. There was no way he was going to stay in Junon for _physio_.

The appointment was over quickly, and Rude pushed the vice president towards the elevator. “When this is all over, if I never see that doctor again, it will be _too soon_ ,” Rufus growled. Rude gave a good-natured ‘hm’ in response. The elevator dinged and Tomun stepped out. The second he made eye contact with them, he looked like a scared cat, face flushing red. He positively lurched out of the way.

“G-good to see you!” he called and then speed-walked away as though he had to go to the bathroom. Rude rolled his eyes, pushing Rufus forward and pressing the star for the ground floor.

The doors slid shut, gave a soft, reassuring ding, and then the lights in the elevator went out. There was a sharp metallic _TANG!_ , followed by a long squealing scrape, like a cable being freed.

“Huh—!?”

It dropped.

They were only ten floors up, but the drop was fast. Rude threw himself at Rufus, yanking him out of the wheelchair to cradle his body up against the far wall.

“ _What in the hell are you—_ ”

The elevator slammed into the ground, the middle exploding open as an enormous metal spike pierced the floor like a stalagmite. Their bodies flung upwards and then slammed back down, Rude taking the brunt of the force. Rufus’ wheelchair sat atop the spike, which punctured the ceiling as well.

He’d have been a _goddamn shish kabob._

Rufus coughed heavily, pushing at Rude’s clutching hands. He freed himself, rolling forward. Rude groaned, curling over, and Rufus bent down to yank on Rude’s lapels. “Hey! Get up,” Rufus said, shaking the larger man with growing urgency.

Rude’s gloved hand wrapped around Rufus’ wrist, looking up at him with one broken lens. Rufus found himself a little surprised at the sight of such warm eyes. “Anything broken?” Rude croaked.

“I’m _fine_ you enormous fool,” Rufus said, though he was shivering like a leaf. He let go of Rude to pull himself to standing and then reached down to help the Turk up. “Can you even stand?”

Rude grunted, coming to his feet with only a slight wince. He grit his teeth. “Yes.” He stared at the huge spike in the middle of the elevator and shook his head in disbelief. How had this happened? Who had…

His eyes flashed with fury. “Fucking _Tomun!_ ” he roared. That bastard had _fooled him_ before, but not now. As soon as they got out of this elevator he was going to hunt him down and _skin_ that _lying_ little—

“Rude!” Rufus snapped. Rude’s expression changed, looking back at Rufus, who was sweaty and disheveled. “Get this damn door open.”

“—Right.” In a fit of mild insanity, Rude pressed the “open door” button. It did not. 

“Are you quite sure you’re not _brain damaged_?” Rufus hissed.

“Sorry, sir,” Rude said, and then dug his fingers into the crack between the two doors. Suddenly, more focused on this task, he could hear coughing, and a slightly distant voice calling: “ _Is anyone down there? Are you alright?”_

He let go of the doors, banging on them. “We’re alive!” he shouted, and then dug back into the crack, pushing his foot on one end while he pulled on the other. The effort he was putting in was enough that his wrists crackled, materia reacting to the power he was exerting.

Rude’s eyes squeezed shut, growl turning into an all-out yell as the doors budged, and then seemed to distend and unlock. Rude had been pressing so hard that as they pushed open, he dented the housing for the doors.

Outside the door was a dust and debris filled car park and two emergency vehicles pulling up. Rude stepped out, chest heaving as he looked around with a predatory stare. “Where the _hell is he_?” he roared.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down, sir,” a fireman said, attempting to calm him down. “Who else is with you?”

“Tomun did this,” Rude said, vein in his neck pulsing. “That _lying_ —”

“I was with him,” Rufus said, stepping out behind Rude. His hand landed on Rude’s shoulder and he squeezed, as if to calm down a raging animal. “We’re fine. But we suspect someone on the tenth floor had something to do with this.”

Rude clenched his fingers, pulling his broken glasses off and throwing them into the debris. He grabbed the back-up pair from his jacket and then exhaled slowly, saying nothing else.

Behind the two emergency workers were nervous looking police, who immediately picked up their radios and made calls. Rude felt himself sway a bit. “We have to… Tell Tseng.” His head felt a bit cloudy. Maybe he had actually gotten a concussion when they’d slammed down twice. He spat, and it was black and red with dust and blood. Damn.

“What are you waiting for?” Rufus asked, tugging Rude forward. “I think you’ve knocked something loose, Rude.”

“…maybe,” he said, and then shook his head. He reached for his phone. It was cracked, but functional. He exhaled shakily and called him.

“Tseng.”

“An attempt was made on the vice president’s life,” Rude said so blankly that he was now _quite_ sure he’d lost a few brain cells. Tseng said nothing for so long, Rude was worried he’d lost the call. “Sir?” Rude asked.

“Is he—”

“We’re both safe, and in one piece,” Rude clarified. Rufus stepped up next to him, and they crowded up against the wall, away from the workers staring at the rubble in confusion. An EMT attempted to approach them, and Rufus turned to stare at him until he backed away.

“Get him out of there. To the hotel,” Tseng said. “I—we— We’re getting him out of there. I’ll fly out.” There was a sharp inhale, and Tseng’s voice evened out. “Do you know who?”

“Almost positive,” Rude said, growling at the thought of Tomun running away from the elevator like he knew it was a death trap.

“I’ll contact the authorities when we’re in the air and make sure they’ve been apprehended,” Tseng said.

“Way ahead of you,” Rude said, feeling the anger curl up in him again.

“We’ll be there in three hours,” Tseng said and hung up.

Rude pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose for one slow inhale and then tucked his phone away. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said.

An EMT stood nearby, stammering: “If y-you could just let me—”

“Get out of the way!” Rude yelled, tugging Rufus along under his arm like he was blocking him from paparazzi. At least the parking garage was intact, and the rental coach where they’d left it. Rude may have manhandled Rufus a little more roughly than was reasonable, shoving him down into the back seat and slamming the door.

Rude slid under the car with a much less suppressed wince, looking for any foul play, and then hopped into the driver’s seat.

“Finally,” Rufus said, panting. He clutched at his own white jacket, dirtied and torn. “He stops treating me like I’ll break.” He began to laugh as Rude peeled out of the garage.

Rude’s eyes flickered to Rufus in the rearview mirror, and the anger had finally gotten to him: his eyebrow twitched and he pressed his lips together to keep himself from saying anything he might regret. He kept glancing at the mirrors for any sign of someone following the coach, but there was no sign. They pulled into the hotel’s parking lot and, having had ten tense minutes to cool down, Rude politely opened Rufus’ door.

“We’re in a bit of a hurry,” he quipped, gesturing his hand out, palm up, away from the door. “If you don’t mind.”

Rufus looked too beat up to call him out on his tone, and so he hopped out of the car. Rude left the keys in the car; they weren’t getting back in the damn thing. He pressed his hand to the small of Rufus’ back as he walked them into the hotel. He pretended to not see the looks from the reception desk. He directed Rufus toward the elevator, and Rufus stopped in his tracks.

“I’m sorry, but _no_ ,” Rufus whispered harshly. “I am _not_ getting back on one of those right now.” His usual tough tone wavered just a bit.

Rude wasn’t able to repress a disgruntled sound of disbelief. “Okay,” he said, and sharply turned left to the stairwell. Rude would normally have no issue bounding up the stairs, but Rufus was less up to the task as he began to use what little strength he had left to slowly take each step. Rude stuck with him. It was only four floors.

They had just passed the second floor when Rufus had to stop, leaning against the wall. His breathing was labored and noisy, so Rude did not hear someone come up behind him until there was already a sharp pain in his neck and slender arms at the side of his head.

“What the—fuck,” Rude slurred, falling forward and turning over on his ass while he still could. There was Clera, tossing the needle away she’d stuck in his neck, and then doing the same to an already incapacitated Rufus. She was wearing a red headband.

“Sorry,” she said, though she was fading in and out as he danced on the edge of consciousness. “Guess we both _are_ bad people.” She threw Rufus’ slim body over her shoulders and disappeared down the stairs, and he slipped out of consciousness.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🎶 Reunited and it feels pretty good and slightly crazy~~ 🎶  
> Content warning for general violence and some hurted boys.

Rude’s phone was buzzing nonstop. It felt like whoever had called him was desperate to keep him from resting, which was very inconsiderate. He was so tired. His body was so hard to move. How could he answer the phone like this?

The phone stopped and he grunted in relief, and then it began to buzz again. “G..god…” he choked, using one rubbery arm to try to reach out for it. He had to open his eyes to look for it, and that was when he realized he was spread out over 8 carpeted steps, and the flood of memory rushed back. Rufus.

 _Clera_.

He trembled as he clutched the phone, thumb swiping at it. He couldn’t quite use his mouth yet.

There was a tinny, panicked voice. “Rude!? He fucking _answered_. Rude! Where the _fuck_ are you?”

Rude grunted, attempting to push himself up and slapped the phone onto his face. “Sssstairs,” he said, voice garbled.

“Stairs where—the hotel!? How did those fuckin’ _goddamn_ morons not check the stairs!?”

Rude dropped the phone onto the step so he could use both hands to steady himself. He could hear him long before he saw him, and could recognize the nasal fury dashing up the stairs.

His lapels were pulled at and his whole body thrown forward into a warm body. He opened his eyes. “Hey Reno,” he croaked.

“The _fuck_ happened?” Reno asked, pushing Rude back by the shoulders so he could stare at him. “There’s a _huge_ bruise on—”

“Clera. Fuck.” Rude struggled to stand, and Reno understood the urgency. He leapt back, focused only on helping Rude to his wobbling feet. “The— night nurse was with AVALANCHE. She must have triggered the elevator remotely…”

“Hold on, shut up. Shut up. Fuck.” Reno shoved his arm under Rude’s shoulders. “Can you walk? We’re goin’ down to the lobby, okay?”

“Fuckin’ Clera,” Rude growled, his footsteps heavy like he wore cement shoes. “I should have… known.”

“Shit, you’re heavier than before,” Reno laughed through gritted teeth. “Can’t believe this is how I have to see you after so long.”

“Later, Reno,” Rude groaned.

“You think I don’t know that? I’m just sayin’.” They were silent for a moment, and Reno hummed, “And you look like shit.”

Rude coughed out a laugh as they exited the stairwell on the first floor. Tseng was quietly threatening a few local Shinra soldiers to go interrogate the hotel staff when he saw them stumble out. He walked up to them in ten very fast steps. “Did you see where—”

“No,” Rude grunted, still swaying despite Reno’s hold on him. “She got me first and then took him down and out, somewhere…”

“Was he wearing it?” Tseng asked.

Rude lifted his head to look at him. “Huh?”

“I—gave him a necklace. If he’s wearing it, I can activate a quick remote signal in it and we should be able to locate where he is.”

Rude’s eyes squeezed shut. “Yes? I think?” He shook his head. “I’m not that up close with him, usually,” he grunted.

Tseng’s eyes narrowed on him, but then pulled his phone out for a few quiet moments. His thumb hovered over the screen for a moment’s hesitation, and then he pressed down. The screen lit up from yellow and then turned green, a wire-map of the city appearing and showing a sharp red blip on the map. “The warehouse district at the old docks. _Typical_. You!” He shouted, and one of the officer patrol leaders stepped up to him. “Get the rest of the officers in vans and get down to the docks. We’re taking the helicopter.” They saluted and took off immediately, barking orders down the line.

“Helicopter?” Rude asked, and then groaned. “Please, don’t make me—walk up more stairs.”

“Elevator, obviously,” Tseng said, and Rude barely repressed a long-suffering sigh. He didn’t really want to do _that_ , either. When they moved into the elevator, Tseng pulled out a potion and gave it to Rude, who swallowed it down in a way that’d make a drunk impressed. His gloved fingers gripped tightly on Reno’s arms while he let the uncomfortable feeling of bruises patching out of his body and a bit more energy seep into him.

“You good, big guy?” Reno asked softly.

“Nope,” he coughed, and then lightly pulled away from his partner to stand on his own. His head still felt weird, like there had been something else in the tranquilizer she’d shot him full of. “But I’ll get by.”

Reno’s fingertips flexed, and he shoved his hands into his pockets before he did something stupid, like pull the man’s sunglasses off his face and kiss his dumb mouth. “Good, ‘cause our night’s about to get worse.”

The elevator opened to the top floor, where they had to climb one flight of stairs to get to the roof. The B1-Beta stood waiting for them, and they hurried in. Reno jumped behind the flight controls while Tseng handled the navigation. Rude buckled himself in, closing his eyes to try to focus on where he needed to watch out for. His neck was tender, but the potion had helped that minor injury. His ribs were definitely cracked, and his left hip had a twinge. His hands felt tight and still a bit sluggish. And that odd, fuzzy feeling was not going away; it was like it was keeping him from concentrating. As long as he became more self aware, he was sure he’d be fine, but it itched at the back of his mind.

“That’s it, there,” Tseng was saying, and then the helicopter was met with machine gun fire from below. “I’ll suppress, find us a safe place to get down.”

“Way ahead of ya,” Reno said, veering the copter to the right to prevent bullets from coming through the open sides. Tseng sent focusing fire down with precision, but they were far enough up that it was a struggle to see the little rebels diving behind boxes.

Reno squinted and saw an open area, flashing his spotlight on it to see who was waiting for them. No one. As long as he could land it fast, they could drop down and move out without getting shot directly at. Tseng swung in his seat to shoot one more sharp line of bullets and then dropped the gun’s controls. “Got it?”

“Got it,” Reno affirmed. His right hand moved over several controls and the B1-Beta slowly descended until it delicately touched down. Fifteen seconds. Reno yanked the ignition out, and the propellors slowed to a stop. The three of them jumped out, but Reno stopped Rude before they took off. He grabbed Rude by the shoulders. “Are you _good_ , partner?” he asked, bright eyes scrutinizing him.

“I’m— I can do it,” Rude said, shaking his head. “I’ll be fine.”

Reno stared at him, eyebrows drawing down further and further.

Rude inclined his head just a bit. “I’m good,” he said softly. It didn’t _feel_ like a lie.

Reno stuck his chin out and then turned away, whipping out his EMR. “Good. Don’t fuck this up. We gotta grab the Veep and then get the hell out of dodge.”

“This way!” Tseng shouted, and they dove after him.

“God, the one time I wish we had Elena’s damn bombs,” Reno growled as they ran from box to box. There was only one place Rufus could be; most of the buildings were half burnt out and dilapidated. The large central complex looked lived in, and there were pallets outside stacked with nondescript crates that could have been weapons containers or basic supplies. There were two guards at the side door, and Rude and Reno jumped out together, Rude crushing one’s head into the wall and Reno knocking one’s head to the side with his rod and a sharp arc of electricity. They landed together, foot to foot, and then called back to Tseng. “Clear!”

They opened the door and dove behind a shelf full of tools and first aid kits. Reno stuck his head out, eyes taking in the area. “Two hallways,” he whispered voicelessly, “one big room in the back, lit up. Windows. Bet he’s in there.”

“If he’s alive,” Rude muttered, and he was too groggy to see the double glares pushed in his direction. Smashing that guy into the wall had felt _good_ , like something was burning up in his blood. He wanted to do it again.

A patrol of three turned the corner, and Reno was the first to dive out. “Hey,” he said in a sultry voice. “We’re lookin’ for somebody. Know where he is?”

The three looked at each other, and then raised their guns. Reno jumped up, running along the wall to land behind them. They weren’t fast enough to react, and he electrocuted three of them in a line. With that distraction, Rude and Tseng were able to come out and engage: Rude running at one to yank the gun out of his hands and then punching him out against the wall. Tseng shot one in the leg, and the third Rude roundhouse kicked before they had a chance to respond.

“Wendyll??” a voice called, and the Turks ran for it.

The hallway filled with rebels badly aiming, and the three plowed through them. Tseng and Reno were able to provide basic suppression while Rude smashed his fists, knees and elbows into them, disarming and moving forward.

Rude was taking in great, heaving breaths, and strange fog was rolling off his shoulders from the heat he was producing. They didn’t have a chance to investigate it since he barreled ahead of them and took down the door of the large, lit room.

“Rude, slow the _fuck down!_ ” Reno yelped, but he was already taking down the first person he saw. Gunfire exploded in the room, a dozen rebels standing with guns pointed near the front door. At the back of the room was Rude’s target: one man, hog-tied on the floor, and one woman with short brown hair, standing over him with a fucking _spear_. Clera.

What was it with AVALANCHE and _weird fucking weapons_.

Tseng had picked up one of the rebel machine guns, diving behind the outside door to shoot in. Reno was fast, too fast to hit as he threw out electric smashes to soft, unprotected heads and necks. The idiots never wore helmets, either. It didn’t take a lot of effort to clear the room and Tseng closed and locked the door behind them. All that was left to kill the leader, but Rude—

Rude was gnashing his teeth, leaping at Clera. She jabbed the spear out, keeping him from getting too close, but he was able to grab onto the tip of it and yank her forward. Her eyes shot open as he grappled her, and she twisted the spear to keep him from wrapping his arms around her. His body was completely blocking Clera’s, preventing Tseng from getting a good shot.

“Rude! Back the hell off!” Reno shouted, but Rude didn’t move. The woman he fought was fighting off a laugh.

“He _can’t!_ ” she yelled, and then grunted when she dropped the spear and her own body to grab Rude by the thighs, shoving him down. They landed behind and overturned table, her atop him, and she smashed his face with her fists. If Rude had been more capable of complex thought, he’d have wondered how he’d missed such strong hands on a goddamn nurse. “He’s gone Berserk!”

Rude let out an enraged sound and bucked her off of him, knocking her onto the floor. He jumped on top of her, staring down. His broken glasses fell off his face and bounced off her cheek. “You—fucked—up,” Rude ground out, fist flying forward. She was too quick, head moving just to the side and legs kicking up to give herself forward momentum. She managed to squirrel out of Rude’s grasp for a short moment, but he was a bull, strength doubled. His hands slammed her wrists into the ground at the same time he cracked his skull against hers. She fell back, gasping in shock.

“W-why?” he growled, body shaking.

She stared up at him, eyes unreadable. Her mouth opened.

Tseng put a bullet in her head.

Rude jerked backward, his great heaving breaths coming faster and faster. Reno skittered up to him as Rude fell onto his ass, teeth grinding together.

“Fuck. Fucking assholes. Fucking _idiots_ , giving this strong motherfucker a fucking berserk effect—hey, hey buddy, hey.” Reno had been shuffling around in his pockets. “I don’t got a Remedy, partner, you gotta wait a little bit, okay? The copter’s got one.” Then Reno successfully pulled out a small figure 8 made out of silicon connected to a thin rope. “Open up.”

Rude’s entire body was wound up, one tight muscle, but he opened his mouth just enough that Reno was able to slip the silicon into his mouth. His teeth dug into it, no longer grinding on each other. It wasn’t much, but it eased the pressure enough that he was able to focus and get to his feet. Reno helped, back under his shoulders for the second time that night.

Tseng had dashed past them, dropping to his knees in front of Rufus, who was still unconscious, blood seeping onto the floor from his head. Tseng ripped the restraints off of him, hands quickly moving over his face and neck. His hair flopped over his face, but he was fine, breathing, and the wound was superficial. His thumb subconsciously stroked the VP’s cheek, and then he tucked his arms under him as he stood. He threw Rufus over his shoulder with an apologetic noise just as Rude successfully stood back up. Rude’s eyes were wild and his gloved hands trembled with the effort, and blood had slipped down from where he’d smashed his head against Clera’s. Outside, they could hear AVALANCHE members fighting with the newly arrived Shinra officers. The hiss of smoke bombs outside filled all three of them with relief.

They were able to limp out of the warehouse under the cover of darkness and smoke, Rude walking like a baby deer while Reno attempted to right his course, and Tseng struggling a bit with Rufus’s lopsided weight. The B1-Beta was right in their vision, and Reno passed the ignition key into Tseng’s hand. Tseng threw himself at the helicopter, locking Rufus into a seat and then jumping behind the flight controls. Reno and Rude were nearly there when one rebel stepped out, his face tear-streaked, and shot his last bullet at them.

Rude’s reflexes were shockingly fast, arms wrapping around Reno and shoving him to the side. The bullet exploded through his shoulder and then ricocheted off the copter; all the while they had kept moving, and Rude pushed Reno forward into the seat next to Rufus.

“Lock him down!” Tseng shouted, and the helicopter lurched upward.

“Holy _fuck_ , Rude!” Reno shouted, pressing the man into the seat and jerking a seat harness over his lap. “What the _fuck_ is wrong with you!” Rude’s shoulder was bleeding all over the seat and Reno’s damn arm. “Tryin’ to be the damn hero all the time, sick as a goddamn dog!” Reno double checked the unconscious Rufus’ belt and then hooked his boot around one of the u-shaped metal bars on the floor. “Fuckin’ asshole! Puttin’ me through hell and then just gettin’ all kinds of _fucked up!_ ” He slammed the helicopter’s doors shut, the sound from the propellors above finally dimming down. Reno yanked the cushion off of his seat and pulled out the first aid kit. There _was_ a Remedy, and he ripped open the plastic bottle cap. He moved in front of Rude; their knees tessellated as Reno gently pried his mouth open to remove the pressure relieving silicon guard and Rude’s mouth was slippery with drool. He pressed the bottle to Rude’s lips, and Rude swallowed the sparkling potion, head falling forward.

Reno took the silicon necklace in hand, cramming it back into his pocket, and then dug out antiseptic, bandages and a needle kit. He’d glanced to the side at Rufus, who, while pale, only had the scratch on his head and the bruise on his neck. There wasn’t much Reno could do for him up in the air.

“Hey,” Reno said, voice less angry now that the whipping wind from outside wasn’t drowning him out. “Is it lifting? What’s goin’ on in there?”

Rude let out a soft huffing sound. His skin felt much cooler already. “Yeah,” he said, head tipping up and leaning against the wall to gaze up at Reno. His eyes were calmer now, but sadder, too, and Reno vowed that he, too, would carry a spare set of sunglasses for Rude if he’d managed to get into so many fucked up situations that he’d lost his own spares. He didn’t want to have to look at those deep brown eyes when he had to tend to his damn wounds. “Feeling… Like a million gil.”

“Well, you look it,” Reno said, forcing himself to look away. “Can you get out of that damn jacket? I gotta deal with the _bullet wound_ you got yourself.”

Rude let out a soft laugh, the corner of his mouth tipping up in a weak smirk. “You’re welcome.” He squeezed his eyes shut as he attempted to get out of the jacket, but his shoulder was screaming at him. “Just—cut it off.”

“Your _arm_?”

“My _sleeve_ , d-dumbass,” Rude said, and Reno found himself laughing nervously.

“Fuck. Obviously. Sorry. Just—just a second.” Reno grabbed his own pocket knife, flicking it open as he cut into the fabric of the sleeve. Once he got it started, it was easy to rip the stitching and yank it down. He did the same with the black linen shirt underneath, and then tucked the knife into his mouth as he pulled the sleeves down and off over his hand.

Reno squeezed Rude’s knees between his as he pulled him forward. Holes on both sides, clean. “Just gonna sanitize, stitch, and wrap it, okay?” Reno said, and as he pressed the alcohol wipe against the wound, he said, “Fuckin idiot,” while Rude hissed.

Rude’s eyes lifted up and met Reno’s, and the connection was strong. Reno had dealt with a lot of close calls, but this one felt awful. Reno had to look away and pulled out a needle and began to suture one side closed. “Did you know about any of this?”

“No,” Rude said, and then, “can you give me that bite guard?”

Reno reached into his pocket and then slapped it in to Rude’s hand before he went back to stitching. “Aren’t you lucky I carry my rave toys around in my jacket?” he chuckled.

“Is that what that is?” Rude asked, turning the soft silicon item over in his hand. It was definitely just a large pendant on a necklace, and it made sense. “You just carry them around to chew on, huh?” He popped it into his mouth, glad for it when his teeth clenched at every poke and pull of thread. 

“Not always. Don’t like people seein’ me chewin’ on stuff, looks weird.” Reno grinned as he felt a wet slip on his bare wrist. Rude’s cheeks flushed red as he realized he’d drooled on him. “Makes me spit.”

“Hm,” Rude replied, staring out the window.

Reno finished up one side. “Can you turn for me?”

Rude shook his head a bit, hand moving towards his seatbelt. He unfastened it, and then shifted onto his right hip, turning as much as he could. “Better,” Reno said, and he cleaned that side too. “It’s just funny ‘cause it’s _usually_ you doin’ this to me.” The second set of sutures were much cleaner. “Weird seein’ you reckless.” Rude made a defensive sound, and Reno laughed that he couldn’t talk at all. “Hard part’s done, you don’t have to keep that in there. Just gotta wrap you up.” Rude shrugged with his good shoulder. Reno lifted an eyebrow and then dropped down to his knees in front of Rude to wrap his shoulder in gauze and bandage. “Suit yourself. Guess you like having stuff in your mouth, huh?”

That, finally, got Rude to pull the bite guard out of his mouth. “Not here, partner,” he rumbled. Reno pushed Rude back into the seat on his bad shoulder, and Rude hissed inwardly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Who do you think I am, yo?” Reno’s eyelashes fluttered. “I got virtues and shit.”

“If you two are quite done,” Rufus groaned, causing the two of them to jump slightly. “If I have to listen to any more nonsense…”

“Yeah, boss,” Reno said, and glanced at him to look him over. He just looked pissed off, tired, and dirty, but those weren’t entirely unusual states of being for Rufus Shinra to be in.

Reno finally set himself down, fastening his own seat belt, and Rude followed suit. Their legs splayed out, feet resting against one another’s.

“Two and a half hours to go,” Tseng said quietly, and Rufus’ mouth relaxed into a smile.

“Much better,” Rufus hummed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the um, climax, of the story!!! Thank you guys for sticking it out while this kinda went all over the place.  
> Final chapter is more of an epilogue for tying up some loose ends, so just take it easy and enjoy this one for a while.  
> It's slow paced and self indulgent, my bad...  
> also, 🚨 smut alert 🚨

It had been a really long day.

Both Rufus and Rude had been roughed up enough to be sent to the 67th floor labs. Thankfully, there were enough personnel that the Director himself did not have to make an appearance. The impassive-looking medic double checked their wounds, declaring Rufus free to go. She frowned at Rude and told him it’d be best if he could stay the night for observation, and he was almost relieved. He didn’t want to drag his ass home. He’d fallen asleep before they even wheeled him in to a side cell room.

Reno had been cleared with a couple scratches, and he paced with nervous energy in the Turks office with Tseng. It was the middle of the night, and Elena had gone home for the night. Reno really needed a cigarette. “What are you lookin’ for?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Messages from Junon,” he said, staring at the lit terminal on his desk. “They’d been coming in since we left. Investigations of the faction, the man Rude suspected originally…” He looked tired. “The leader also appears to have been sighted here, six months ago at another raid…”

Reno let his head fall back over his hands. “You should get some sleep, boss.”

Tseng leaned back, crossing his arms. “And you?”

The redhead shrugged. “I’m just gonna keep an eye on him upstairs.”

Tseng nodded curtly. “Ah. Well, you’re free to go.” He picked up his pen to start a report. “So go.”

“Don’t pass out on your desk, boss,” Reno said, and then headed to the labs with subdued urgency.

They called the rooms ‘cells’ as a bit of a joke, as they had doors that could be locked from the outside in. But left open, they weren’t unlike a private room in a decidedly less sinister hospital. Reno had dragged a chair in as quietly as his exhausted ass could, and then fell into it. He peeled his goggles and gloves off and scrunched down into the chair so he could throw his legs over the arm of it. It wasn’t great sleep, but the room was dark and quiet enough that with the soft reactor hum, it was easy to drift off. There was nothing to wake him up, anyway, other than who he _wanted_ to wake him up.

Rude’s voice was sleepy, but audible. “Reno…”

Reno swatted out at the noise, his own hand hitting himself in the chest. It was enough to wake him up with a little surprised snore. The crick in his back was sharp, but he forced it straight with a pop as he got back into a normal sitting position and leaned into the hospital bed. He wasn’t sure if Rude was awake or if he had been _sleep talking_ (which Reno did not even want to _ask_ why, or how often), but he had a moment of selfishness in deciding to wake him up either way.

“Hey, partner,” Reno said, lightly placing his warm hand on Rude’s bare arm. They’d stripped him out of his shirt to check the wound and re-do his bandages, but he at least had a blanket thrown on him. “You awake?”

Rude’s eyes leveled on him. “For a while.” He sounded tired, gravelly. “Though I think we’ve been out a long time.”

“That would explain my back,” Reno complained, thumb swiping tentatively over skin. “How’s the head?”

“Not great,” he said, and then let his head fall back, breaking Reno’s gaze. “Did I headbutt someone?”

“It was metal as hell.”

Rude barked out a laugh; his ribs were tender, but he’d assumed they’d used cure on him as they didn’t sting as much as they had when he’d fallen asleep. “Don’t let me do that,” he huffed.

“I don’t think anything could have stopped you,” Reno grinned. “But you got a hell of shiner. Looks better than last night.”

Rude groaned. “I wasn’t sure what was frenzy and what was just dreamed up.”

“Tseng got her. And then we left with the Veep.”

“Tseng _shot_ her,” Rude corrected, and felt a dull ache rise in his chest. He hadn’t gotten to find out why from her own mouth.

“Don’t feel bad, Rude. Don’t.” Reno attempted to catch Rude’s gaze, leaning over him a bit more so that their eyes met. “A crazy person, from a weird rebel faction, literally stalked the VP from Midgar to Junon. That person has bad friends, and they want to hurt us and justify themselves for it.” Reno shook his head then, embarrassed as he eased back. “She hurt you first and brought a fuckin’ spear to a fist fight, _and_ pumped you full of chemicals, _which_ , I’ll remind you, are what made you slam her damn head into the ground.” Reno glanced back up at him. “And it _was_ badass. She practically asked for that.”

Rude didn’t say anything, just let his hand fall on Reno’s. It was the most intimate touch from someone else that either of them had had in _months_ , and Reno’s inhibition was finally beginning to waver. It wasn’t hard to just move a bit closer, nose touching Rude’s. His tongue slid out over his own lip, and it was Rude who leaned forward to close the connection, lips soft. Rude’s hand slid up Reno’s arm to cup the back of his neck with gentle pressure, tilting him closer.

Reno’s pulse was shooting through the roof. He pulled away just enough so that he could whisper, “Do _not_ tempt me to crawl into this bed, Rude. You’re still fuckin’ recovering.”

Rude’s hand dropped with a sigh. “Sorry,” Rude said sheepishly, struggling to look him in the eye. “I may look like shit, but you sure as hell don’t.”

“Wow, makin’ me out to be the bad guy,” Reno grinned, and the phrase made Rude wince.

“Sorry,” Rude said again, more serious this time.

“ _Sensitive_ , jeez,” Reno said, and then stood up, spreading his hands. “Look, how about I find you a shirt and we can go get somethin’ to eat, get you soaked in a bath and tucked into your own damn bed.” He picked up his phone to confirm that, yes, they had been there for close to ten hours. Damn. “You got your observation in.”

“The backup suit—”

“You have _a backup suit_ at the office, partner?”

“—is in my desk.”

“Fine, I’ll get it. And that reminds me.” Reno pulled out a pair of Rude’s shades and carefully placed them over his face. “Better?”

“I’d say yes, but it’s pitch black in here,” Rude muttered.

Reno swatted him on the arm with a laugh and went to turn the lights on. “Dumbass. I’ll be back.”

“No, let me just—come with you. I hate this floor,” Rude said. He swung his legs over the bed and tugged the blanket with him. They’d left him in his shoes, too. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and chest, and the two slipped out and back down to their floor.

It was close to noon. Tseng was not in the office, but Elena was. She had her boots kicked up on the desk, thumbing through her phone. “Hey, Reno,” she said, and then double took at the large man in a blanket. She shot to her feet. “Oh! Uh. Hi!”

“At ease, cadet,” Reno teased. “This is Rude. Rude, Elena. Elena, if you could just,” and he pointed his index finger down and spun it around. Elena’s face went red as she turned about face.

“S-sorry!” she sputtered, staring at the opposite wall.

Rude wanted to be more easy going about it, but he had to admit it felt embarrassing to show his bare, wounded body to a person he did not know personally yet. He thanked Reno quietly as he bent down to retrieve a shirt and jacket that had been folded and starched for so long it still had creases when he was dressed.

It was a bit of a struggle to get the sleeves over his shoulders, but Reno helped tug them tightly, standing close to his chest and staring at him wordlessly as he buttoned the shirt for him. He stepped back, swinging an arm out. “Yo, Elena,” he said, “you wanna come get lunch with us?”

Her eyes widened. “Really?” She spun around and looked between the two of them. She pressed her lips together. “I think, maybe next time Rude comes in.” She bowed her head quickly. “I’m sure you’re tired…”

“Been asleep for a while already,” Rude said, voice warm. He already knew he looked intimidating, but there was no need to have a new Turk feel that way around him.

She shook her head. “No, really. Go get some food and then go home. I’ve still been looking for Tseng. I don’t think he came in this morning.”

Reno lifted one eyebrow sharply, a stupid grin sliding across his face. “Isn’t that interesting,” he said, pulling out his phone.

Reno  
_Where you at? Elena’s been floundering alone in the office._

Tseng  
_I’m otherwise engaged. Tell her to catch up on the reports from Junon._

Reno shrugged. “He’s with the Veep,” he said knowingly. “But there’s reports for you to go over for him, from Junon.”

“Why’s he with Rufus?” Elena murmured.

“What’s on those reports?” Rude asked, suddenly stepping forward towards Elena’s desk.

“Uh-uh! No way. Both of you stick to your own shit,” Reno said, and snatched Rude’s uninjured arm with a yank. He pointed at Elena, “You finalize those reports, and _you_ come with me.” He pulled Rude along behind him.

“See you tomorrow, maybe?” Elena called.

“Maybe!” Reno replied. He let go of Rude’s wrist when they exited the office. “Keep your mind off of Junon right now. I mean it. You’re gonna drive yourself nuts, and all I really care about right now—”

Rude’s stomach growled. “Yakisoba,” he said immediately, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. “Please.”

“Readin’ my mind, partner,” Reno said with an easy grin, and led him out of HQ.

* * *

Reno escorted him home.

Rude had eaten his fill, so happy to finally get the basic street meal he’d been missing; it was just an added bonus that he was satisfied to sit quietly, eat, and listen to Reno’s tales. He was still a bit devoid of energy and Reno could see it, so Reno paid the tab. Outside the restaurant, he bumped his shoulder against Rude’s good one, and they walked back to Rude’s apartment in companionable silence.

His apartment felt stale. There hadn’t been anyone there for almost four months. He stood in the foyer with a soft sigh, unsure of what to do as he toed out of his shoes. He was just glad they’d gone for food before, since he probably only had a couple packages of instant noodles in his cabinets.

Reno pushed past him, already barefoot, fingers brushing Rude’s as he headed towards the bathroom. “I was serious before,” he said, and began to roll up his sleeves. “You should just soak for a while and then sleep.”

“Are you gonna draw me a bath, Reno?” Rude asked, voice warm with amusement. “I’m not a kid.”

“But you’ve had a rough couple of days, alright?” Reno said, sticking his head out of the bathroom. “Let me… Let me make your life a little easier.”

“Standing like a zombie under a shower is gonna be easier than crawling into that bath,” Rude muttered, but Reno had already disappeared again. The sound of the tub filling made a pleasant ambient noise.

He shrugged out of his jacket and walked slowly to his bedroom. The bed was made, but otherwise had no signs of life. He plugged his cracked phone into the bed-side table’s charger and just the low glow of the battery symbol made the room look more like home.

He undressed, thinking of Reno’s fingers yanking his buttons closed in the office. Reno’s behavior around him, around their whole situation, seemed a bit more reserved than he’d expected. He’d expected Reno to yank him into kisses the second they were alone, but he’d been patient, only sharing that short kiss in the lab.

He rested his sunglasses next to his phone, and the faucets squeaked off. “You comin’?” Reno called.

Rude strode into the bathroom nude and had to admit, the steaming water looked very enticing. Reno leaned up against the sink, folding his arms. “Damn,” he whistled, “I’ve missed that.” He stepped up to him, carefully removing the old bandage. “Now get in before I eat you alive.”

“What if I’d rather have that?” Rude taunted. Reno rolled his eyes and smacked his lips at him. Rude just smirked and stuck a tentative foot into the hot water. It was almost too much, but he knew the heat would dissipate quickly if he waited any longer. He used one hand on the edge of the tub to lower himself down, and that was when Reno rushed forward, helping support Rude’s back as he slid down into the oversized tub.

“Still rather get eaten alive?” Reno teased. He slid to his knees, resting against the side of the tub.

Rude let out a rumbling groan. “Nope.” Being entirely submerged felt extremely good on his tender body. He’d gone through a lot of medicinal recovery, both physical and magical, but he was still sore and tired. At least the bullet wound had already closed up.

“‘S what I thought,” Reno hummed smugly. He popped the buckle open on his jacket, shouldering out of it, and then re-rolled his white sleeves back up to his elbows. “Just hang out there.”

“What’re you doing?” Rude murmured, though had his eyes closed, drifting in the warmth.

“Don’t worry about it, partner.” Reno picked up a washrag and wrapped it around a bar of soap, dunking it into the bath. He scrubbed it over Rude’s chest, which startled the reclining man into opening his eyes.

“What—”

“I said,” as Reno cleansed his neck and collarbone, “don’t worry about it.” Rude had still been covered in dust and blood in his clothes, so Reno put in the work to shake the grime loose. Rude gave a soft ‘hm’ and then let him continue with no objection. The rag moved over his shoulders, Reno gently avoiding the wound, and then down to his abs.

After washing with one hand, Reno let his other trail after the rag to touch to his heart’s content. He’d been wanting to do that for a long time, and short of the world ending, nobody could stop him. He was careful cleaning up around Rude’s clean-shaven dick and balls, knowing the rag was abrasive but also that he kind of _didn’t_ want to turn this into sex. His fingertips traced after the rag, lightly drawing down the length of him, but that was it. He kept scooting down the tub to lift up knees and drag the rag over and under, rubbing the raw soles of his feet. He lifted his hands out of the water. “Sorry, partner, but you gotta roll over.”

“Hmmh,” Rude replied. He flashed a smile at Reno before turning himself onto his belly, causing his knees to bend, legs sticking up out of the water. As he settled down, his nipples _clinked_ against the porcelain, and Reno chuckled.

“Still blows my mind you had secret piercings,” Reno said as he dragged the rag over his broad, shining back. “Though I’m almost disappointed you don’t have a ring in your cock.”

“Can you imagine trying to piss like that?” Rude muttered. “No way.”

“So you thought about it?” Reno teased.

“A smart man weighs his options,” Rude replied.

“Tongue?”

“Don’t think I could get away with that at work,” Rude chuckled. “Besides Tseng losing his mind, a tongue ring doesn’t really fit my intimidation aesthetic.”

“So you _have_ thought about all these,” Reno smirked in awe. He moved down Rude’s arms, careful to give extra care to his hands. Rude let out a soft moan at the touches. Reno pulled the soap out of the rag and let it slide slowly over Rude’s neck and head, causing Rude to arch his neck like a cat. Reno’s eyebrow popped up, and he threw the rag on Rude’s back with a wet slap. He reached down to pull the drain stop, and Rude groaned, “Noo…”

“The water is _gray_ , Rude,” Reno said. He stuck his tongue out. “You want me to refill the tub, or just hose you down for a final rinse?”

The dirty water disappeared, and Rude sighed. “Hose.”

Reno fiddled with the faucet again so that it just changed to the showerhead. Rude let the water pound his back and then turned over to feel entirely clean. The redhead shut the water off one last time and then pushed himself to his feet with a grunt. “Alright, let’s get your half-dead ass in bed.”

“You going somewhere?” Rude murmured. He opened his eyes and saw Reno reaching down for him. He rose to his feet and Reno passed him the fluffy black towel that Rude favored.

“I could use a shower,” Reno said with a shrug. “I’ll clean up and pass out on the couch.”

“You had better _not_ ,” Rude said, toweling himself off. “If I wake up alone after a night like this, _again…_ ”

“You actually want me to stay?” Reno asked, unable to meet the other’s eyes.

“God, you can be dumb,” Rude said. He lifted his hand, pressing his thumb to Reno’s bottom lip, and then turned to leave the bathroom. Reno stayed where he was, watching him go with his heart pounding in his chest.

He closed the bathroom door and tossed the rest of his clothes on the floor. His shower was much quicker, just scrubbing the smell of sweat and mayhem off his skin. The sooner he was clean, the sooner he could be where he’d wanted to be for _months_. Knowing the feeling was genuinely mutual was almost too much to handle.

After the shower, he wrung out his ponytail and tried to dry off as fast as he could. He shut the lights off behind him; bathroom, hallway. He stepped into Rude’s dark and quiet room; it was easy to slip under the blanket and find Rude’s naked back to press up against, shutting his eyes with a shaky exhale.

Later, he hovered between wakefulness and sleep. He felt warm and relaxed, other than a tingling pleasure at the back of his mind. Behind his eyelids, the room seemed light; they must have slept for a long time.

When he felt a long curl of pleasure sing up his spine, he opened his eyes to see Rude slowly licking up and down his cock. Reno swore softly, pushing himself up on one elbow to watch. Rude’s eyes met his for a blistering moment before his lips sank down with a satisfied moan.

_I think about sucking your cock. A lot._

Reno tried to focus; Rude’s bruises were mostly faded, which was a relief. But he was also _sucking_ in lazy, wet strokes; his hands were resting on each thigh, squeezing. Reno dug his heels into the mattress and clenched down on that feeling, wanting to keep himself from coming. “Wait,” he panted, pulling his hips back. “I don’t wanna— Not yet.”

Rude crawled up over him, still quiet, but raised a slim eyebrow as he pushed Reno flat on his back, grinding against him. After a moment, Rude let his lips part with a grin. “I’m going to fuck you like this,” he said softly. “I am going to spread you open. Is that what you want?”

Reno was gagging for it, letting out a shocked laugh. “Yesss,” he hissed, sliding his arms up and around Rude’s back. He crushed their bodies together, memorizing the feeling, and left a wet kiss on Rude’s surprised mouth.

“You’ll have to let me up,” Rude rumbled, and Reno just laughed, pulling him in close. Reno wrapped a hand around the back of Rude’s neck, caressing it while they traded kisses.

“No rush,” Reno said, luxuriating underneath him as Rude’s cock slid along his. “Fuck. I have _never_ had a dry spell this long,” he laughed, hands digging into Rude’s back for one last squeeze. He then let him go and watched as Rude got up to his knees. His cock jutted out at an angle that made Reno’s mouth water as Rude leaned over the bed to grab the lube. Reno noted it was a completely different brand than from _that night_ , and he wondered just how much the man had gone through.

As Rude poured it into his fingers, he lost his focus for a moment. “… _fuck_.”

“What now?” Reno chirped, tilting his hips up at the sight of Rude making his fingers slick.

“We left Darkstar. And my damn suitcase.”

“Ah, that stuff is probably at HQ by now. Before we found you in the stairs, we had to gather up the dog, and I stopped to pack your things.” Rude’s eyebrows slowly rose as he pushed up one of Reno’s legs to let his index finger circle his hole.

“Did you—”

“Find your butt plug and make sure it was in your suitcase? Yes.” Reno shivered at the touches, eyes leveled on Rude’s as he felt Rude’s thick finger penetrate the ring of muscle. “We’ll h-have to get by without it, for now.”

Rude leaned down, stretching him with the one finger even as his other arm slid under Reno’s back, pressing them closer together. “The _only_ thing I want to feel right now,” Rude hummed, “is you.” He pressed the second digit into Reno, nipping at his mouth.

Reno whined into the kiss, shoving his hips at Rude’s hands. “Hurry _the fuck_ up.” His arms wrapped around Rude again, nails clawing into the ample muscles of his back. “You don’t have to—treat me so sweet.”

Rude rumbled an interested moan in response, mouth dropping to his neck to bite sharply into the skin there. Reno cried out, squeezing down on Rude’s fingers as a reflex. Rude’s lips moved, just enough that he could bite him in a slightly different spot, and then another, covering his neck in red welts. Reno couldn’t close his damn mouth, swearing and whining at every new bite, and panting eagerly while Rude sucked at his tender skin. He had been so preoccupied he hadn’t noticed Rude slipping three fingers inside him with ease.

“Rude, for _the love of god_ ,” Reno laughed, slapping his back to get the man to get a move on. Rude withdrew his fingers, spreading a long line of lube down his length. He gazed down at Reno with a coy grin, lining himself up. He freed both his hands to hold himself up above Reno and pressed inside; Reno choked on his own voice, tipping his head backward as he was stretched and filled in a way he had _never_ felt before. “H-holy fuck,” he gasped, reaching out to try to pull Rude down to him. His nerve endings were lighting up all over the place as Rude’s cock slid over deep spots that made him see stars. Rude didn’t let himself fall into Reno’s grasp, instead gazing down at him as he slowly thrust in and out of him. The more he moved, the less coherent Reno became. His cheekbones were pink with lust, lips hanging half open.

Rude pushed himself up to his knees again, broad hands wrapping around Reno’s legs and hauling them up. “You want this?” he hummed, not waiting for an answer before his hips slammed forward, pistoning back and forth with intense purpose. Reno was struck dumb, only able to shove the meat of his palm and thumb into his mouth to muffle the _embarrassing_ cries he made. The sight alone was driving Rude crazy, the taut heat around his cock causing his usual reservations to slip away. Reno was being fucked speechless, and instead the words were tumbling out of Rude: “So fuckin’ good, baby. Fuck, you’re takin’ it so good for me.” He let go of one of Reno’s legs to slide his hand between Reno’s neck and shoulder, squeezing down on the bruised bite marks. Reno’s body clenched down around him as a frenzied moan spilled out of him, the rush of pain sparking a roil of pleasure so strong that he was overwhelmed with the need to come. He let go of his spit-slick hand, teeth marks visible and red, to fist his cock.

Rude bent down, his head dipping so their heads nearly touched. “Gonna come for me?” Rude growled, every thrust putting him and closer and closer to losing it, himself. “Don’t you want to?”

Reno couldn’t have replied if he’d wanted to, so close on the edge. His whole body shook with the effort of trying to hold off, but it felt so _good_ that it surprised the orgasm out of him. Cum shot so hard out of him a line of it splattered his chin, and he stared up at Rude with pleading blue eyes. “Come in me,” he whispered, finally able to speak, and Rude’s fingers dug into his neck again.

Rude didn’t want to stop, but just the feeling of Reno coming all around him as he buried his cock inside him was too much. The feel of him, the _sights and sounds_ of him, after wanting him for so long, destroyed his resolve. He let go of Reno’s leg to thrust in to the hilt, dropping down on top of him as his hips convulsed forward. Reno responded to every twitch, squeezing down, and Rude kissed him to muffle the whimpers as he was drained.

Tension slowly seeped out of their sweat-slick bodies, arms wrapping around one another. Their kisses slowed, and they rolled to one side, still pressed together. When they parted, Reno sucked at his teeth in fake dismay. “Hickeys?”

“They’ll be gone by tomorrow,” Rude rumbled in a way that made him sound sad about it.

“We have work _today_ ,” Reno huffed.

“I called us out. Before I made myself familiar with your dick.” Rude’s fingers slid down to where he was still buried in Reno, and let his fingers tenderly touch the stretched rim. He could feel his own cum slipping out. Reno hissed out a little moan of need. “I’m not letting you out of my sight today.”

“Tseng agreed to that, huh?” Reno said, voice tripping a little.

“After the week I’ve had? Yeah,” Rude mumbled with a humorless laugh. His fingers wrapped around his cock as he slowly pulled it out, and a full body shiver passed through Reno’s body.

“Fu-uuuck…”

Rude let go of him, licking a line over his chin to taste the splash of cum there. “Don’t move,” he murmured, and hopped out of bed like he hadn’t just fucked Reno within an inch of his life.

Reno wasn’t even mad about it.

Rude came back with a warm wet towel, cleaning them both up in a reversal of Reno’s efforts to clean him up in the tub the night before. Then he threw himself back into bed, wrapping his arms around the other man with a soft huff.

“Now, more sleep,” Rude rumbled.

The contentment made sleep an easy mission.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s a wrap folks.
> 
> Next time, on the MP series, we’ll get to delve a little more into Rude’s personal life. And his brother.
> 
> And maybe I’ll even actually talk about Tseng and Rufus... :p
> 
> Thank you for all the comments, love & support!! Find me on Twitter @MantaWords. I have a lot more words about these idiots I gotta get out, after all.

The call from Tseng came when Reno had managed to take Rude’s dick halfway down his throat. Rude had been tempted to ignore the call, but Reno slid off with a wet pop, looking like the cat that got the cream, and whispered, “Answer it.” He was sucking Rude down again a moment later.

He flailed at the table, managing to knock a lamp over, before he yanked the phone free of its charger and answered. He attempted to sound as un-bothered as possible. “Rude here.”

“Good, you’re up,” Tseng said. He sounded calm and collected in a way Rude hadn’t heard in months. Having Rufus back under the corporate roof seemed to have improved Tseng’s ability to remain aloof. Rude bit into his bottom lip to keep himself quiet as Reno swirled his tongue over him. “I understand you’re resting, but I’d like to get some information cleared up. Is now an acceptable time?”

Reno’s eyes met Rude’s, and he winked. Rude let out a sharp, “Hah!”

“Rude?”

“Sorry—yes, boss.” Rude hated the man down there, but had no intention of stopping him. His professional brain had simply flown out the window. Reno was a drug he was still very new to. “Still sore. Bumped into a cabinet.” Was Reno smirking with a mouth full of dick? That bastard.

“Hm.” Tseng did not sound entirely convinced. “First of all, your suitcase is at your desk. Reno packed it, I have no idea if he gathered all your things or not.”

Rude’s hand slid down to tangle into Reno’s hair. “Good,” he said, both in response to the news _and_ Reno’s talented mouth.

“Second, I’d like to ask about this ‘Tomun’.”

Rude huffed out a laugh of disgust. With Reno’s mouth on him, his filter seemed to have disappeared. “That fucking guy.”

“Why is it you suspected him?”

Rude did not push down on Reno’s head at all, knowing how much of a mouthful he was. Instead, he just let Reno move while he stroked Reno’s soft hair. He had to look away, though and put all his efforts into making his voice smooth instead of fluttering. “He was as nervous as a criminal,” Rude said flatly. “The first time he saw both Rufus and me, he looked like he was going to—ah—pass out. Every subsequent visit was continued suspicious behavior.”

“Is that so?” Rude couldn’t see him, but he could _hear_ that eyebrow arching up. “Well, I can tell you why that is.”

“He was somehow Clera’s number two man?” he asked, getting breathy as Reno’s lips slid up and off.

“When the Junon local police force interrogated him, he seemed to be very worried about what had happened. Apparently he had been fostering a rather unbecoming _crush_ on the ‘big black guy in sunglasses’.”

Reno took that moment to suck a smooth ball into his mouth, and Rude made a noise that sounded awfully close to a squawk. “He _what!?_ ” Reno hummed a laugh into his thighs.

“Elena went into quite a bit of detail in this report,” Tseng was saying, and Rude’s face felt so hot he wasn’t sure it would ever return to normal. “I don’t want to read everything she wrote down here, copied from the taped interrogations, but she _underlined_ the phrase ‘one of those tie me down Daddy types’. She’s very eager to meet you, by the way.”

“Tseng,” Rude hissed, and a particularly explicit mental image popped into his mind. “I do _not_ want to know this. Also I can assure you—”

“Please, do not finish that sentence,” Tseng said.

Reno moved, biting gently into the inner muscles of Rude’s thigh, and then descended on him again with deliberate wet slurps. The noises were loud enough that Rude tightened his fingers in Reno’s hair to slow him down, even though that was the last thing he wanted. He couldn’t even say ‘ssh’ to the infuriating man. “So the night nurse was the only one in on it?”

“The only one you had contact with, yes. She had managed to find several allies within the hospital network, including the property manager, who gave her access to…” Tseng continued to talk, but his words were fading in and out of Rude’s ear. He was going to come; he was going to fill Reno’s mouth, and he really didn’t want the first time to be while listening to Tseng prattle about _fucking AVALANCHE._ Reno wasn’t even looking at him now, so focused on the task. He had one hand wrapped around the thick shaft, and the thing he was doing with suction was going to _kill_ him—

“Rude?”

“S-sorry, what?” he asked, snapping back to reality. Reno was jerking him off fast, now, and it was going to sound very, very obvious as Rude was half panting. 

“You sound awful. Are you sure this was a good time?”

“I do have chills,” Rude said, trying desperately to get a handle on it. “I sh-should lie down.”

“Hm. I should have waited until tomorrow. We’ll get you caught up then. Don’t overdo it.”

“Yes, sir,” Rude said, and heard the line blip as Tseng hung up. Rude threw his already cracked phone off the bed with a clatter. “You _shithead_ , I don’t—ah…!” Whatever he’d meant to say it was knocked out of his head as he came, watching Reno catch spurt after spurt on his lips and tongue. He swallowed, sliding down Rude’s messy cock one more time.

When he finished, Reno gave Rude’s sagging dick a chaste little kiss. “Tseng knew.” He had never looked more smug in his _life_.

“Of _course he did_ , you _torturous asshole_ ,” Rude moaned, smothering his own face with a pillow in a pathetic attempt to end it all. “I can never go to the office again.”

“Eh, whatever,” Reno said, and got up with a big stretch. “It’s good for him. That’ll teach him to call you on your day off. With me. And did I hear Tseng call you ‘Daddy’?”

Rude threw the pillow at Reno’s face.

* * *

The four of them sat in the recreation level over lunch. Rude had never felt more awkward in his life, pushing convenience-store grade sushi around the plastic tray with disinterest. Tseng was perfectly comfortable to eat quietly, while Elena and Reno were going and on about how AVALANCHE had snuck under their noses and _still_ failed spectacularly.

“And, I hope it’s no disrespect to you, Mr. Rude,” Elena was saying, “about the recordings from Junon. It seems like you left a mark on most of the people you ran into.”

Reno waggled his eyebrows, gesturing with his burger. “I heard about that, something about—”

“Reno,” Rude said, voice the sound of a killer. He glared at his food, glad for the safety of his sunglasses, and then shrugged. “It’s important to understand where your faults lie.”

“Apparently he’s bad at picking up when people are flirting with him,” Elena murmured with a little smile.

Tseng tutted. “That is not pertinent, Miss Elena,” he said quietly.

“Sorry, sir,” she said quickly, an embarrassed flush rising to her cheeks as she stared at the table.

“What’s up with the Veep, then?” Reno asked and pointed a pair of fries in Tseng’s direction. “And I already know about the illness, thanks for the big fat lie on that one, boss. Pretty sure it’d be a better idea for _all_ of us to know what the hell’s going on with him.”

“That was a mistake that won’t be repeated,” Tseng said, eyebrow twitching. “Seems the Director of Public Security and the President himself had other ideas, but I will be personally seeing to the Vice President’s health and safety.”

“And how is that going?” Rude asked. “His treatments weren’t finished by the time we had to return.”

“His physician was not a part of the plot,” Tseng hummed. “We have all of his medical data here, and as you may have seen, he was on the up and up. I had been attempting to draw a connection between Rufus getting sick and some of the bizarre material found in the Sector 3 slums, but nothing was conclusive. Someone had implied it could have been due to reactor exposure, but that seems unlikely.” Tseng shrugged then. “Since it’s bad for press.”

The other three Turks raised eyebrows at one another. They all put bites of food in their mouths at the same time to avoid addressing that particular possibility.

“As it is, the main problem is now rooting out the mole in the science department who leaked this to their little squad leader, Clera.” He stared down at his half eaten lunch. “That is the main missing piece, for now.”

Reno finished the greasy cafeteria burger, loudly sucking his fingertips. “So we’re back to normal?”

Tseng looked thoughtful. “As much as any of us can be. With Rude back, we will need to assign a new partner to Elena, though.” He tipped his head just a bit. “That may end up being me.”

If Elena had been flustered before, she was practically glowing pink now. “Oh! You mean Reno and I don’t get to pal around anymore?”

“‘Pal around’?” Rude asked, eyebrows lifting above his sunglasses. It would be crazy to feel jealous, so he didn’t. …much.

“Look, we’re all in the same office,” Reno said with a shrug. “Only difference is, what. Rufus?”

“Mmh,” Tseng said. “Is there anything else you wanted to get clarified?”

“Do we know what happened to Clera’s original faction? From here,” Rude asked. “Or why she… _did_ all this?”

“No. And no. Sometimes, you don’t. Sometimes, the only motive is revenge.” Tseng stood up. “They blame the Shinra family for the environmental problems, and they think that an assassination will help.” He picked up his tray and turned to leave. “They’re fools.”

“I’ll come with you, boss!” Elena said, scurrying to her feet to follow him with her.

“That wasn’t what I really wanted to hear,” Rude murmured. He pushed his food away, just studying his hands. “I want to know why — I need to know that what I do is different.”

“Yeah, I didn’t hear what I wanted either,” Reno said, putting a fry in his mouth. “Like, when did he start screwin’ the Veep? Are you seein’ what I’m seein’? We gotta find out more of that.”

Rude’s eyebrow twitched. “Reno…”

“Nah, look here, partner,” Reno said, pushing his plate over to share the fries. “You shoulda known a long time ago that what we do, here? Is morally ambiguous _at best_. And the thing that you did? Was one of the more heroic things we get to do. You should only feel glowing happiness for any of the work you put in.” Reno pursed his lips around another fry. “You never got this torn up over literally bombing a building.”

Rude didn’t want to take his gloves off. He did not take a fry. “Never made friends with the people in the buildings,” he said.

Reno huffed out a frustrated sigh. “In which case, do you want me to answer a question for you, babe?” Rude looked up, cheeks flushing a bit at the pet name, almost mad that he had said it out loud, but Reno didn’t let him talk. “It’s too late for any of us to worry about our conscience, or what we do. We’re in it deep, partner, and we’ve all done shit we’ll see at 3 AM. And now, some of that shit has a name, and a face, for you.” Reno wiped the salt and oil from his fingers off onto a napkin, and his grin grew odd and wide. “And frankly, I’ll see that bitch’s face in my nightmares, too. But in mine?” He tapped his temple. “I’ll be the one to take her out.”

Rude stared pensively at his hands. “Why..?”

“She was gonna stab you with a spear. You. Look, I know we’re in this to protect the Shinras.” Reno shrugged, fiddling with his long ponytail. “But anybody that touches you? I’ll kill ‘em. And I’ll be glad to.”

Reno pushed away from the table and began to walk away. “Come on, we got a report to finalize.”

Rude stared after him, a perplexed feeling rising in his chest. He’d protected Reno from a bullet wound; an impulsive, berserked brain telling him that he could, and would, die for the man. It didn’t seem so far a stretch to think he would kill for him. And knowing Reno would do the same?

He jumped to his feet to follow him, the ache in his chest changing from the chagrin at what he’d done, to something else that filled his chest with nervous butterflies. Rude was pretty sure he was happy with that.


End file.
